Complete the passage questions end the argument with a blank, usually after “because” or “since”, and ask which choice best completes it. They are a Critical Reasoning type in the GMAT Focus Verbal section, and they hide a familiar task behind an unfamiliar format.
Look at the word right before the blank. If it is “because” or “since”, you are supplying a premise that supports what came just before, so the question is really a strengthen or assumption question. If it is “therefore” or “thus”, you are supplying a conclusion, so the question is really an inference question: the right answer must follow from the facts given, and nothing more.
Read the sentence that contains the blank closely. It usually makes a claim with a gap in it: a plan will fail, a figure is misleading, a comparison is unfair. The right answer is the specific fact that closes that gap. Before you look at the choices, try to predict what kind of fact would do it.
Wrong answers are often true to the topic but support a different claim, restate the premise without advancing it, or go further than the evidence allows. Put each choice into the blank and read the whole sentence back: the right one makes the reasoning complete.
4 practice questions
Critical ReasoningComplete the PassageMedium
Question 1
Ferrovia, a regional airline, is considering replacing the turboprop aircraft on its route between Alsen and Brisk with jets, which cover the distance forty minutes faster. The route, about 350 kilometers long, is also served by an intercity rail line with hourly departures. Ferrovia's managers expect the faster flights to attract many travelers who now make the trip by train. That expectation may prove overly optimistic, however, since ______
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Ajets burn more fuel per passenger than turboprops do on routes of this length
Bcounting the trips to and from the airports, the train would still be faster than the jet
Cseveral other regional airlines still fly turboprop aircraft on routes of a similar length
Dthe fare for the train trip between Alsen and Brisk has risen steadily in recent years
Esome of Ferrovia's current passengers prefer the quieter cabins of its turboprop aircraft
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Key Concept or Approach
The blank must give a reason to doubt that faster flights will lure train travelers. The strongest reason is that even the faster flight would not beat the train for these travelers.
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1: Identify the task (Complete the Passage): The blank must give a reason to doubt that faster flights will lure train travelers. The strongest reason is that even the faster flight would not beat the train for these travelers.
Step 2: (B) Correct. If door-to-door the train is still faster than the jet, saving forty minutes in the air gives train travelers little reason to switch.
Step 3: (A) Fuel cost bears on profitability, not on whether train travelers will be attracted.
Step 4: (C) What other airlines do on other routes is irrelevant to Alsen-Brisk travelers.
Step 5: (D) Rising train fares would make flying more attractive, which supports the managers.
Step 6: (E) This concerns people who already fly with Ferrovia, not train travelers the airline hopes to attract.
Final Answer
Answer: B
Common trap: E is tempting because it names a downside of the switch, but it concerns Ferrovia's existing passengers, while the expectation in question is about attracting people who now take the train.
Critical ReasoningComplete the PassageMedium-hard
Question 2
To reduce the number of cars entering its historic center, the city of Montalba plans to convert two downtown parking garages into housing, cutting the center's public parking spaces by a third. The city hopes that visitors will instead use the park-and-ride lots it has built at the edge of town. Critics, however, argue that drivers will simply circle the streets in search of the remaining spaces, adding to congestion. But this concern is probably unfounded, since ______
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Amany of the new apartments are expected to be rented by people who do not own cars
Bthe two garages to be converted are the oldest parking structures in the city center
Ctraffic in the center is heaviest during the morning and evening rush hours
Dsigns on every road into the center will show drivers whether any spaces remain
Esome of the center's shops fear losing customers who currently arrive by car
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Key Concept or Approach
The critics' worry is specific: drivers will circle looking for spaces. The blank must show why drivers would not do so once spaces are scarcer.
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1: Identify the task (Complete the Passage): The critics' worry is specific: drivers will circle looking for spaces. The blank must show why drivers would not do so once spaces are scarcer.
Step 2: (D) Correct. If drivers can see before entering the center that no spaces remain, they have no reason to drive in and circle; they will go elsewhere, which also fits the city's aim.
Step 3: (A) Car-free residents mean the new housing adds few cars, but that says nothing about whether drivers looking for parking will circle.
Step 4: (B) The age of the garages has no bearing on drivers' behavior.
Step 5: (C) When traffic peaks does not address whether reduced parking causes circling.
Step 6: (E) Shopkeepers' fears, if anything, suggest drivers will be affected; they do not show circling won't happen.
Final Answer
Answer: D
Common trap: A is tempting because it suggests the plan won't add traffic, but it concerns residents of the new housing, not the drivers hunting for the remaining spaces that the critics worry about.
Critical ReasoningComplete the PassageHard
Question 3
Some publishers of novels have found that letting readers download the first chapter of a book free increases sales, because readers who enjoy the opening want to find out what happens next. Kestrel Press, which publishes birdwatching field guides, is considering the same practice for its books. However, the practice is likely to reduce rather than increase Kestrel's sales, since ______
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Afield guides are usually consulted one entry at a time rather than read from beginning to end
Bthe first chapter of each Kestrel guide is a quick-identification chart, which for most buyers is the only part they ever use
CKestrel's field guides sell for considerably higher prices than most novels do
Dsome publishers of novels have stopped offering free chapters because the practice turned out to be costly to administer
Emost people who buy birdwatching field guides have bought guides published by Kestrel before
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Key Concept or Approach
The blank must support a strong claim: the free chapter will actually lower sales, not just fail to raise them. So the completion must show that giving away the first chapter gives away the reason people buy the book.
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1: Identify the task (Complete the Passage) and the gap in the reasoning: The blank must support a strong claim: the free chapter will actually lower sales, not just fail to raise them. So the completion must show that giving away the first chapter gives away the reason people buy the book.
Step 2: (B) Correct. If the first chapter is the part most buyers want, a free copy of it satisfies many would-be buyers, who then have no reason to purchase the book. That explains a drop in sales.
Step 3: (A) This explains why the novel strategy might not help a field guide (there is no suspense to resolve), but it does not show sales would fall.
Step 4: (C) A higher price does not explain why a free chapter would reduce sales; if anything, a sample might reassure buyers before a pricier purchase.
Step 5: (D) Administrative costs affect profits, not the number of books Kestrel sells.
Step 6: (E) Buyers' familiarity with Kestrel gives no reason why a free chapter would reduce their purchases.
Final Answer
Answer: B
Common trap: A is tempting because it shows the novel logic does not carry over, but it only suggests the free chapter would not help; the argument needs a reason it would hurt.
Critical ReasoningComplete the PassageHard
Question 4
The water utility in Drayton plans to replace every household's mechanical water meter with a smart meter that reports usage hourly to an app residents can check. The utility expects the change to cut residential water use substantially, citing a pilot program in which households using the meters and app reduced consumption by 9 percent over a year. The pilot's results, however, may overstate the effect of the citywide rollout, since ______.
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Asmart meters cost considerably more to purchase and install than the mechanical meters they replace
Bsmart meters will also allow the utility to detect leaks in its own water mains more quickly
Csome households in the pilot reduced their consumption by far more than 9 percent
Dthe pilot households were volunteers who signed up in response to an advertisement seeking residents interested in conserving water
Ethe citywide rollout will be carried out gradually over three years rather than all at once
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Key Concept or Approach
The blank needs a reason the pilot households would respond more strongly than typical households. In other words, the pilot group was unrepresentative.
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1: Identify the task (Complete the Passage) and the gap in the reasoning: The blank needs a reason the pilot households would respond more strongly than typical households. In other words, the pilot group was unrepresentative.
Step 2: (D) Correct. Volunteers already motivated to conserve are likely to respond more to usage data than the average household, so the 9 percent figure probably overstates the citywide effect.
Step 3: (A) Cost says nothing about how much water households will save.
Step 4: (B) This adds a benefit, so it would suggest the rollout's effect is understated, not overstated.
Step 5: (C) Variation within the pilot is already reflected in the 9 percent average. It gives no reason to expect a smaller citywide effect.
Step 6: (E) A phased rollout affects timing, not the size of the eventual per-household reduction.
Final Answer
Answer: D
Common trap: E is tempting because a slower rollout sounds like a smaller effect, but the passage is about how large the effect is per household, not how quickly it arrives.
