GRE Paragraph Completion Questions

Paragraph completion questions in GRE Critical Reasoning present an incomplete argument where the concluding line is missing. Your task is to select one of the five answer choices that completes the paragraph in a logical and coherent way. The correct approach begins by building an efficient mind map that connects all key information points in the argument. Once this structure is clear, you set a broad expectation for what the missing conclusion must do to complete the entire chain of thought across the paragraph, not just the final sentence. You then go by elimination, removing answer choices that do not complete the argument as a whole, until the correct option remains. Before confirming your answer, cross-check that the selected choice truly completes the paragraph in meaning and flow.

The following comprehensive video lesson, a part of the Experts’ Global GRE prep course, explains this question type and the step-by-step taught methodology for solving it. The lesson then applies this method to GRE-style questions with representative answer choices so you gain first-hand experience using the approach. Make full use of this resource and apply the taught methodology consistently in your GRE preparation and practice for GRE CR paragraph completion questions.

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How Paragraph Completion Questions Appear on the GRE

How GRE CR Para-Completion Questions Appear

CR Para Completion questions provide a short, incomplete paragraph, usually between sixty and one hundred words, that ends before the idea is fully developed. The question asks which option best completes the passage in a logical and natural way. The question follows a multiple-choice format with one question and five answer choices. Only one answer choice is correct, and you must focus on how the argument or idea logically concludes.

Virtues of a Para Completion Statement

Virtues of CR Para-Completion Statement

The correct answer choice completes the argument and logically flows from the entire paragraph. The logical flow connects all the ideas in the paragraph, not just the final sentence. Use a Mind Map approach for these questions to maintain a clear and logical train of thought throughout the paragraph. The Missing Link is not necessary for this question type. Focus on identifying the missing concluding piece that ties all the ideas together in a smooth and coherent way.

Strategy for Solving Paragraph Completion Questions

Solving GRE CR Para-Completion Questions

Read the question first and identify it as a Para Completion question. Then, read the paragraph carefully and create a clear mind map. Connect the key points to build a logical train of thought, process all the information in the argument, and estimate how it will likely conclude. Set a broad expectation for what the correct answer should provide. Ensure the para completion statement logically completes the argument and that the logic flows from the entire paragraph. Use a grid-style check to eliminate answer choices efficiently and clearly. Apply this approach in your GRE prep drills, sectional GRE mocks, and full GRE mocks.

Worked Example: GRE Paragraph Completion Question

Example of an incorrect answer choice

GRE CR Para-Completion Example 1

The passage describes the economic performance during the current political party’s tenure in Xitora and states that GDP growth reached 15 percent, the highest level in the past 100 years. It mentions that the government received widespread appreciation for its role in driving this economic growth. However, the passage also highlights repeated accusations against the government related to social, political, and diplomatic issues. The passage establishes that elections are scheduled in three months. It presents a proposed completion that praises the party’s economic policies, which is marked as an incorrect choice. A concise mind map connects the high GDP growth, the credit given to the ruling party, and the criticism of its broader actions, helping to tie all the ideas together clearly.

This option addresses only the final part of the passage rather than the full line of reasoning, which makes it a trappy and incorrect choice.

Example of another incorrect answer choice

GRE CR Para-Completion Example 2

This option fails to close the full chain of reasoning across the paragraph and only completes the final portion, which makes it incorrect.

Example of another incorrect answer choice

GRE CR Para-Completion Example 3

This option closes only the latter half of the argument and carries a mildly patronizing tone, a combination that signals weak design and almost never leads to a correct answer on the GRE.

Example of another incorrect answer choice

GRE CR Para-Completion Example 4

This option closes the entire chain of thought across the passage and accounts for every key element of the argument, which makes it an appropriate paragraph completion choice.

Example of another incorrect answer choice

GRE CR Para-Completion Example 5

This option completes the full line of reasoning across the passage and provides proper closure to the argument, making it a sound paragraph completion choice.

GRE-style Paragraph Completion Practice Question with Explanation

GRE-Style CR Para-Completion Question

Correct Answer: B

For a detailed explanation of this question, please refer to the video presented earlier on this page.

Following is a concise, step-wise written explanation, using our Missing-Link Approach (MLA)…

Across the last three election cycles, the National Temperance Party has grown increasingly unpopular in the southern districts, particularly among suburban voters. Assuming this decline continues, the party is likely to receive no more than 26 percent of the votes in any southern district in next year’s elections. Such a performance, by itself, is unlikely to diminish the party’s chances of controlling parliament, as the party has rarely ever won in the southern districts. However, this trend is likely to ultimately have serious political consequences for the National Temperance Party because ______.

the party’s diminished influence is likely to produce a radically different political landscape
the party’s underperformance is likely to carry over into more competitive districts
non-suburban voters in southern districts are likely to migrate to the suburbs over time
declining support in the southern districts is likely to be accompanied by increasing support for other parties in the same districts
the party will retain its support among non-suburban voters in the southern districts

1. Spot the Question Type

This is a Para-Completion question. We must find the option that logically completes the argument by explaining why the decline in southern districts will have serious political consequences.

2. Mind-Map the Argument

We can divide the passage into three logical bytes:

Byte 1: The National Temperance Party is losing significant support in southern suburban districts.
Byte 2: Losing these specific districts does not directly hurt their parliament control because they rarely win there anyway.
Byte 3: However, this trend will still cause serious consequences because [Missing Link].

3. Process and Estimate Closure

The word However indicates a shift. Since the loss of southern seats does not matter directly, the “consequence” must be an indirect effect. We need a reason why failing in the south hurts the party elsewhere or in a broader way.

4. Set Broad Expectation

The correct answer should connect the southern decline to a larger negative impact on the party’s overall success or future viability.

5. Eliminate

This is broad and vague. The passage looks for a specific mechanism linking southern decline to concrete political consequences for the party, not a general statement about the landscape changing.
This directly explains why losing ground in the southern districts has serious consequences. If poor performance spreads into districts that the party actually needs to win, it threatens the party’s broader electoral prospects. This fills the missing link.
Demographic migration does not explain the party’s serious political consequences in electoral terms.
This restates the loss in the south but does not explain why that loss matters given the passage already says the party rarely wins there.
This weakens, rather than explains, the idea of serious political consequences.

Correct Answer: B