Conquering GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence as a Non-Native English Speaker (Part 1)
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If you’re a non-native English speaker and English is your second (or third, or fourth!) language, you might find GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence frustrating. However, you can still improve your performance, and you don’t need to study thousands of flashcards to do it. Here are a few ways to address your weaknesses and play to your strengths.
Fool Me Once…
English is counter-intuitive, but native speakers never notice most of the inconsistencies. As a non-native English speaker, you’re in a unique position to notice the quirks of English and turn them into useful lessons.
Here’s a GRE Text Completion Mini-Problem
My boss is not only cheap, but positively ________.
The word but is a Pivot that indicates a contrast. Also, the word positively appears immediately before the blank. Something that’s positive is good. Logically, both of these clues suggest filling in the blank with something like generous or charitable: they contrast with cheap, and they’re positive attributes.
If you’re shaking your head at that explanation, you’re right—it isn’t a very good one. The explanation is logical, but heads-up to the non-native English speaker: the English language isn’t. The actual fill-in should be something like stingy. Even though but denotes contrast, the idiom not only…but also is used to intensify an idea:
He completed not only the whole set of Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides, but also the entire 5lb. Book.
Plus, the word positively isn’t always as positive as it sounds! It can intensify either positive or negative adjectives, similar to highly or absolutely.
The seats at the theater were positively torturous, with wooden backs that forced us to sit painfully upright.
You’ll identify other quirks of English like these ones as you review problems. Your task isn’t to be perfect the first time—it’s to never be fooled the same way twice. Whenever you misinterpret something in a GRE Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence problem, write it down and review it often. It’s fine to make mistakes while studying for the GRE; it isn’t fine to make the same mistakes repeatedly.
Context Matters
You can learn tons of vocabulary words by committing their definitions to memory, but the ETS knows about that strategy. They design some problems that can’t be solved by just knowing definitions verbatim. You need to learn the contexts of words, too.
Here’s a Sentence Equivalence problem where that comes into play:
The suspect was hoping the expert witness would corroborate his story, but instead she proceeded to _______ his account of what happened.
(A) disabuse
(B) gainsay
(C) contradict
(D) rebuff
(E) abjure
(F) precipitate
Your fill-in might be reject. Unfortunately, five out of six answer choices (everything except precipitate) could arguably fit this fill-in. To choose the right two answers, you’ll need to know when these words are used, not just what they mean.
Disabuse involves rejection, in that the person doing the disabusing rejects someone else’s belief. But disabuse is used in a very specific way in English: you always disabuse someone of an idea or a belief, rather than disabusing the idea itself.
I disabused my cousin of the frivolous notion that Santa Claus was real.
Rebuff also refers to rejection. However, it refers specifically to the rejection of an offer, usually an offer of friendship or romance.
She asked her new coworkers to join her for dinner on Friday, but she was rebuffed.
Abjure, likewise, describes a sort of rejection. In this case, it’s the rejection—generally formal—of one’s own previously-held belief. You don’t abjure an account, and you don’t abjure someone else’s beliefs.
After the fortune-teller’s predictions of wealth and success proved false, he abjured astrology and became an investment banker.
The two answer choices that fit in both definition and context are contradict and gainsay. Both of these can refer to rejection, but that’s not all. They specifically refer to contradicting a claim or a statement. That makes them a good fit for the sentence.
To solve more GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence problems, you have to know the particulars of how words are used. Often, two words with very similar definitions will be used in very different contexts. Native English speakers can sometimes rely on their ears to tell the difference, but for you, as a non-native English speaker, the solution is to always learn new words in context. Every time you write down a new vocabulary word, add a sentence or two that uses it correctly. If it’s almost always used in a specific situation, make a note of that. If you’re not sure how the word is used, try a Google search to see how real people are using it. And if you miss a problem because of a subtle aspect of context, add it to your notes. Never let yourself be fooled twice.
These aren’t the only things that matter when learning Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence as a non-native English speaker. Next week, we’ll say more about increasing your vocabulary and understanding complex sentences. For now, start including the contexts of words in the definitions you learn and commit to noticing and writing down logical misinterpretations. That alone should help you avoid missing the GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence problems that you should be getting right. ?
Chelsey Cooley is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here.