COMPLETE THE PASSAGE QUESTIONS:

When you encounter Complete the Passage questions on the GMAT, use Kaplan’s four-step
process below to find the correct answer.

 IDENTIFY THE CONCLUSION, EVIDENCE & ASSUMPTION(S).

This should be your first step for all of the Critical Reasoning question types. The conclusion and
the evidence will be explicitly stated in the passage, while the assumptions will require you to sit
and consider the author’s point of view. What needs to be true in order for the conclusion to be
correct based on the given evidence?

 DETERMINE WHAT IS MISSING.

What does the blank represent? Often it will be either a restatement of the conclusion,  or another
supporting piece of evidence, but it could also be an action advocating by the author, or an
example of the author’s argument applied to the real world.

 MAKE A PREDICTION (AND WRITE IT DOWN)!

This is the most important step. Come up with a logical phrase for the blank, in your own words,
based on what you think the blank represents to the argument as a whole. If you’ve determined the
blank is the conclusion, come up with your own logical conclusion based on the evidence. If you
believe it’s something the author is advocating as a next step, try to consider his perspective and
come up with a reasonable leap. Don’t worry about making it perfect – just get something down
on paper!

 ELIMINATE OUT-OF-SCOPE ANSWERS.

While the correct answer may not perfectly match your prediction, the simple fact that you took
the time to think critically while you came up with a prediction will help you understand the
author’s focus and the flow of his argument. Eliminate answer choices that would NOT follow the
gist of the paragraph. Especially look for those that are outside the scope of the author’s focus, a
favorite CR wrong answer type!

PRACTICE QUESTION
Use the four-step process to answer the following practice question, then check your
process with the one below.
Old, longstanding firms concentrate on protecting what they have already amassed. Consequently, they
rarely innovate and often underestimate what consequences innovation by other companies will have. The
best example of one such defensive strategy is the fact that ___.
Which of the following best completes the passage?
A.   electronics and mass-produced gears eliminated the traditional market for pocket watches, clearing the
way for marketing them as elegant, old-fashioned luxury items.
B.   an extremely popular prefabricated house was introduced by a company that, several years before, had
failed miserably with its product line of glass houses.
C.   a once-leading maker of buggy whips responds to the new availability of stick shifts by attempting to
make better buggy whips.
D.   smoking pipes, originally designed for use by typically older, more traditional smokers of tobacco, are
now bought mostly by young smokers of scented or flavored herbal blends.
E.   the psychiatrist who invented the anti-inhibition drug MDM did not mean for his product to be used by
partygoers, who buy most of the drug now called “Ecstasy.”

MAKE A PREDICTION

Conclusion – Old firms don’t innovate & underestimate other companies that do.
Evidence – Old firms concentrate on protecting what they have.
Assumptions – Protecting what you have = NOT innovating
What’s the blank represent? An example that will prove the author’s point.
Prediction: An old firm that didn’t innovate & suffered as a result of another company that
did.
ANSWER CHOICES

A.   electronics and mass-produced gears eliminated the traditional market for pocket
watches, clearing the way for marketing them as elegant, old-fashioned luxury items.
Incorrect. This is contradictory since the traditional pocket watch makers changed
their marketing (and thus innovated.)
B.   an extremely popular prefabricated house was introduced by a company that, several
years before, had failed miserably with its product line of glass houses.
Incorrect. This is contradictory since it shows a company that innovated.
C.   a once-leading maker of buggy whips responds to the new availability of stick shifts by
attempting to make better buggy whips.
Correct! Here an old buggy whip firm does not innovate and simply focuses on what
they already have.
D.   smoking pipes, originally designed for use by typically older, more traditional smokers of
tobacco, are now bought mostly by young smokers of scented or flavored herbal blends.
Incorrect. This focuses on the consumer. We would consider this “out of scope” since
our argument focuses on the producers.
E.   the psychiatrist who invented the anti-inhibition drug MDM did not mean for his product
to be used by partygoers, who buy most of the drug now called “Ecstasy.”
Incorrect. This focuses on the intentions of the producer, which is also “out of scope”
to our argument.