Private GRE tutoring online: choose Text Completion answers from evidence
When several vocabulary options seem attractive, return to the sentence’s constraints. The best choice must fit the full meaning, not simply describe the topic or sound suitably academic. A tutor can help by asking which exact words justify your selection.
Use the correct question format
ETS describes Text Completion as a passage with one to three blanks. A single-blank question has five choices; questions with two or three blanks have three choices per blank. All blanks must be completed correctly for credit. See the official Text Completion description.
Original exercise
This is an original teaching question, not an ETS item.
Because the researchers had examined only a small sample, they described their conclusion as ______ and said that further evidence might lead them to revise it.
- irrevocable
- provisional
- irrelevant
- unanimous
- incomprehensible
Answer: B, provisional. The conclusion is tentative and open to revision. Both the small sample and the possibility of later revision support that meaning.
“Irrevocable” conflicts with the willingness to revise. “Irrelevant” would mean it does not bear on the issue, which is not stated. “Unanimous” concerns agreement among people, not the strength of the evidence. “Incomprehensible” concerns whether something can be understood; the sentence gives no reason to doubt its clarity.
Do not force precision beyond the evidence
A good practice question needs enough context to distinguish its choices. If a home-made exercise offers “cogent”, “persuasive” and “convincing” for a sentence that supports all three, inventing a story about the examiner’s hidden intention will not repair the ambiguity. Use official explanations for official questions and check that original examples have a uniquely supported answer.
Make vocabulary review specific
For a missed question, record whether you did not know a word, misunderstood a contrast or chose a claim stronger than the text. Write a plain-language prediction before returning to the options, then insert your answer and reread the whole sentence.
Bring your first answer and reasoning to a private GRE lesson. A useful follow-up is a fresh question testing the same distinction, followed by an explanation in your own words. More memorised definitions may help a vocabulary gap; they do not by themselves resolve every reasoning error.