Complete the Passage

Question 1

Complete the Passage: Overview

Answer 1

• Complete the Passage questions are just altered forms of questions of other types: Strengthen, Weaken, Inference, Assumption, etc.
• The cue words that appear before the blank in the last sentence of the stimulus are excellent indicators of the type of role that the answer that fills that blank performs in the argument.

Question 2

Converting Sentences into Questions

Answer 2

Convert the sentence with the blank into a question beginning with “why” or “what”

• Convert to “Why” question when the blank is preceded by “because,” “since,” or “as.”
• Convert to “What” question if not

Question 3

Complete the Passage: Correct Answer Characteristics

Answer 3

• The answer to a Complete the Passage question must work with, and logically fit with, the passage as a whole. Any answer choice that fits only with the final sentence, and does not fit logically with the passage as a whole, will be incorrect.
• We must find an answer choice that properly completes the passage by fitting into the logic of the argument as a whole and that is not simply a statement that includes wording similar to that found in the passage.

Question 4

Complete the Passage Incorrect Answers:

1) Sounds Correct but in Wrong Direction

Answer 4

In Complete the Passage questions, trap answers are often wrong because, although they sound correct, they head in directions subtly different from the directions in which the passages were headed.

Question 5

Complete the Passage Incorrect Answers:

2) Something that’s Plausible but not Logical

Answer 5

Some trap answers in Complete the Passage questions will sound plausible or inferable given what is stated in the passages, and yet these answers don’t logically complete the passages.

Question 6

Complete the Passage Incorrect Answers:

3) Addresses a Material but Irrelevant Issue

Answer 6

When answering a Complete the Passage question that discusses a plan or a course of action, it’s important that we don’t select an answer choice that addresses a material issue that is not, however, the issue that is the focus of the passage.

Question 7

Complete the Passage Incorrect Answers:

4) Explains but doesn’t Complete the Passage

Answer 7

When answering a Complete the Passage question, beware of incorrect answers that explain things described in the passage but don’t actually complete the passage.