GRE : Blank Completing

2.Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle success: the more his(i)… as an artist

increased, the more(ii)…his life became.

              Blank (i)a. temperance

                             b. notoriety

                             c. eminence

             Blank (ii)a. tumultuous

                            b. providential

                            c. dispassionate

Explanation:

In this sentence, what follows the colon must explain or spell out what precedes it. So, roughly, what the second

part must say is that as Caravaggio became more successful, his life got more out of control. When one looks

for words to fill the blanks, it becomes clear that “tumultuous” is the best fit for blank (ii), since neither of the

other choices suggests being out of control. And for blank (i), the best choice is “eminence,” since to increase

in eminence is a consequence of becoming more successful. It is true that Caravaggio might also increase in

notoriety, but an increase in notoriety as an artist is not as clear a sign of success as an increase in eminence.

Thus the correct answer is Choice C (eminence) and Choice D (tumultuous).

3. In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the

landfast ice so ……that you can walk off the coast and not know you are over the hidden

sea.

                 a. permanently

                 b. imperceptibly

                 c. irregularly

                 d. precariously

                 e. relentlessly

Explanation:

The word that fills the blank has to characterize how the land grades into the ice in a way that explains how you can walk off the coast and over the sea without knowing it. The word that does that is “imperceptibly;” if the land grades imperceptibly into the ice, you might well not know that you had left the land. Describing the shift from land to ice as permanent, irregular, precarious or relentless would not help to explain how you would fail to know.

Thus the correct answer is Choice B

(imperceptibly).