Text Completion - TC and Sentence Equivalence - SE

I. Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence

In an ETS test, are a total of 27 verbal question. Within those:

• 7 are Text Completion (TC) questions.
• 7 are Sentence Equivalence (SE) questions.

II. The Math Strategy

The math strategy helps make a decision, whether there’s a support inside the sentence, or whether there’s a contrast. Usually, we do via a word, e.g. however, because, through, etc.

We call this strategy the “math” strategy because we can indicate support/contrast via + and - signs.

Example:

Step 0: Don’t look at the answer choices right away. They will confuse you. Take a look at the sentence first.

Step 1: It is our job to determine support or contrast in the sentence. The key word to help determine this is but → contrast.

Step 2: Now, we want to look to the right side of the keyword but because the right side has no blank, and will better help us determine the subject that is being contrasted.

• What is being contrasted here? → “definite direction”

So in reality, the only 3 components of this sentence that we need to pay attention to, is the blank space, the contrasting keyword but, and the subject being contrasted (“definite direction”).

Step 3: Write the 3 components out in the order they appear, call this writing the equation. Now, we apply the Math Strategy:

• Because but is a contrasting word, we put a negative - sign.
• Because “definite direction” indicates a positive meaning, we put a positive + sign.
• We “multiply” these two components, and get a negative sign - → this indicate that the blank word should have a negative meaning. We can guess that the blank word should be something along the lines of “indefinite direction” or “lost”.

Step 4: Now that you’ve somewhat determined what the blank should be, it’s time to look at the options. The option that fits the idea of “lost” or “indefinite direction” is option B. unguided.

Note:

1. When determining the positive/negative meaning/connotation of the word, don’t try to “create a story” or overthink the meaning of the word. If you have to think, “oh it can be negative if we think of this way”, then you’re probably thinking wrong.
2. To quickly find the subject of the sentence, you need to consider words that can contrast/support. Words like “investigation” for example, is more neutral and doesn’t really have a support/contrast.

1. “Rephrase the Idea” Questions

It is easier to see the positive/negative connotation in certain words in a sentence, but it isn’t always this simple. Most of the time, you will have to determine the positive/negative, support/contrast in ideas, phrases within a sentence.

Example

Step 0: Don’t look at the answer choices.

Step 1: Is this a support/contrast? → support. The keyword here is since.

Step 2: We look the right side of since, we don’t really see a specific word that is the subject of this sentence. We see more of an idea, something like: “dominant interests can take care of themselves if left alone”.

• We will rephrase this idea, and use only one word to describe this → independent. This word has a positive meaning, so we give it the sign +.

Step 3: Now that we have a more specific subject, we write the equation.

			[___ of governmental](+)       since(+)       indepdent(+) 
		->	[bye bye of government](+)     since(+)       independent(+)

In this context, an independent person, wouldn’t want the government to be involved in their business. So our answer should be a word that has a meaning similar to “bye bye of government”.

**Step 4: ** Now look at the answer choices. The answer is now clear, it is E. elimination.

2. “2 Blanks” Questions

For 2 blanks questions, we have to use the Math Strategy twice, once for each blank.

Example:

When you have more than one blanks, you want to start with the blank that provides more information, one that contains the main subject of contrast/support of the sentence.

The first sentence is a “rephrase the idea” type of question. The keyword here is since, the subject, after we’ve rephrase it, indicates that “the paintings aren’t good”, a negative thing.

→ Hence, it must be something a long the lines of “shocking”, to see these paintings hanging in museums. We look at the options and conclude that the option should be A. surprising.

After we’ve determined the first blank, we look for the keyword on the second sentence. The keyword of the second sentence is But, a contrasting keyword.

• Previously, we’ve identified that the first sentence has a negative meaning -, which is that, “paintings aren’t good”.
• Hence, the second sentence must have a positive + meaning, contrasting with the first. → The answer is E. justifies.

Note: You need to be logical about your answer. You cannot choose an answer based on how it sounds.

Only Need to Guess Once?

For some two blank sentences, you only need to use the Math Strategy once and kill two birds with one stone.

Example:

• This sentence has a support keyword, because. We can divide the sentence like this:

Because this sentence has a support relationship, essentially that means, part 1 and part 2 of the sentence says the same thing. We look at the second part of the sentence:

• The detail here is “73 percent of men” and “34 percent of women”. These shows a difference here, so we can deduce that the first blank must be a word that means “difference”.
• This is the difference in “believe”. So we can guess the second blank is something similar to “belief”. → the answer is B. difference… perceptions

3. No Subject/Idea of Contrast/Support

Sometimes, you may come across sentences where you cannot identify what the subject being contrasted/supported.

Example:

• All we know is these two sides of the sentence contrast each other, determined by the keyword “far from showing”. However, any contrasting words can go into these two blanks and make the sentence make sense.
• In this case, we must look at the answer choices and find an answer choice with two words contrasting each other. The correct answer is B. dismiss… relevant

III. Understanding Type of Contrast

Resources

• Support/Contrast Logic List

1. Connotation Contrast

• Words can contrast in terms of meaning, such as tall vs. short.
• However, words can also contrast in terms of connotation, like confident vs. arrogant, confident has a positive meaning and arrogant has a negative meaning.

Example:

• “miserliness” means “stingy”, which has a negative connotation -. We a need a positive word for the blank.
• The opposite of “miserliness” can be generous, but another word that has an opposite connotation with “miserliness” can be “frugality”, “economical”, which means saving money in a good way, smart with money. → the correct answers are C. frugality and F. thrift

2. Scalar - “Extreme” Contrast

A scalar contrast exists between words that aren’t complete opposites but rather highlight the contrast of the words on a spectrum.

Example: He’s good, but he’s not great.

• “good” and “great”both have a positive quality.
• However, they still contrast each other in this sentence, because here, we acknowledge a quality “good” white simultaneously indicate that it falls short of a higher standard “great”.

Example 2:

• The keyword here is “although” → contrast.
• We look at the first blank, the sentence with the blank essentially means “although he was addicted to opium, it never killed him”. The blank should be a word with a similar meaning to kill.
• We look at the second blank, the keyword here is “indeed” → support. Because the first half (opium not killing him) has a positive + connotation, the second half of the sentence must also have a positive + connotation.
  → We can eliminate other options, the options come down to A or D.
• “overcame” and “conquered” can both mean ~“dead”
• “altruism” means for the good of others, and “gain” means for the good of yourself. → Because he published the story of its influence, he can definitely gain from it. There is no evidence in the sentence suggesting he published the story for the benefit of others. → The answer is D. conquered … gain.