GRE Practice - Text Completion from Big Book

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Gre Prep Text Completion & Sentence Completion from Big Book

31. The techniques now available to livestock breeders will continue to be ------, but will probably be ------ by new ones under development.

   (A) fruitful..reversed

   (B) refined..upgraded

   (C) inconvenient..reassessed

   (D) used..supplemented @

   (E) harmless..improved

• You can guess the first blank by recognising the two words, "now available and will continue".  "will continue" means there will be no changes between present and future. So if now available, it will be used in the future. 
• "but" is important clue to guess the second. "but" means there will be change, so the new(improved) ones will supplement the old ones.

32. Any population increase beyond a certain level necessitates greater ------ vegetable foods; thus, the ability of a society to choose meat over cereals always arises, in part, from ------ the number of people.

   (A) reliance on..replenishing

   (B) production of..estimating

   (C) spending on..concealing

   (D) recourse to..limiting @

   (E) attention to..varying

• Usually, meat is more costly than vegetable. That means if population increases, society has to provide more vegetable foods than meat because of the cost. 'reliance on' or 'recourse to' is proper answers.
• In guessing the second blank, 'thus' is very useful. 'thus' can imply "Paraphrasing". If population increase, society can not afford to provide population with meat, so for meat, limiting population is necessary.

33. Ethologists are convinced that many animals survive through learning--but learning that is ------ their genetic programming, learning as thoroughly ------ as the most instinctive of behavioral responses.

   (A) superseded by..primitive

   (B) compatible with..transient

   (C) complementary to..familiar

   (D) derived from..inventive

   (E) dictated by..stereotyped @

• The last two phrases are closely related, that is they convey a similar meaning (the second phrase learning as thoroughly... is probably due to the result of the first phrase , but learning that is---). I say this because both these phrases follow the hyphen after learning, which usually means that it is an explanation of the word before the hyphen- in this case that word is learning.
• most instinctive of behavioral responses -- 'instinctive' means spontaneous, with a natural propensity'-- what comes naturally? That which is controlled(or dictated) by genetic programming' inside the organism.
• Now using these two clues you can eliminate A and C , as the first blank does not convey the meaning of 'controlled' in these two options.
• B and D can be eliminated because they do not convey the meaning of 'instinctive or natural or spontaneous' 

34. Though some of the information the author reveals about Russian life might surprise Americans, her major themes are ------ enough.

   (A) familiar @

   (B) thorough

   (C) vital

   (D) original

   (E) interesting

• Key word is "surprise". This word means 'unexpected, new and exotic'. But 'Though' is negative signal. So you have to choose the anytonym of 'unexpected, new and exotic".

35. In the early twentieth century, the discovery of radium ------ the popular imagination; not only was its discoverer, Marie Curie, idolized, but its market value ------ that of the rarest gemstone.

   (A) stormed..sank to

   (B) horrified..approached

   (C) taxed..was equal to

   (D) enflamed..exceeded @

   (E) escaped..was comparable to

• Semicolon(;) is the positive signal, which means "Paraphrasing" . Becasue the discoverer of radium was idolized, public might be interested in the radium. So 'enflamed' is proper. 
• " not only A but (also) " is the positive signal. Because the discoverer of radium was idolized, its value might be high, even higher than that of the rarest gemstone.

36. Despite claims that his philosophy can be traced to ------ source, the philosophy in fact draws liberally on several traditions and methodologies and so could justifiably be termed ------.

   (A) a particular..consistent

   (B) a schematic..multifaceted

   (C) a dominant..cogent

   (D) an authoritative..derivative

   (E) a single..eclectic @

• Check the two words, "despite" and "in fact". These words means claims are contrasted with the sentece including "in fact". So the philosophy comes from several sources, claims may be that philosopy stems from the antonym of 'several", single.
• To solve the second blank, check the word "and so". This means positive signal, which means ' cause & effect '. So you have to choose the similar meaning word of 'several', eclectic.