Sentence Equivalence Questions: Because finding ONE word for the blank just wasn’t tedious enough! If you’re studying for the GRE, sentence equivalence questions can be a bit tricky, and maybe you have some questions about Question 15 on the second Verbal section of PowerPrep Practice Test 1. Don’t worry! PrepScholar is here to help walk you through it.

Alright, so searching our sentence for clues, there are a couple of big structural ones. First, we have a colon, which generally signals an explanation, elaboration, or example, and second, our blank is directly preceded by the word “indeed,” which is a word that emphasizes an agreement in ideas. Even without reading the sentence, we should suspect that the idea in our blank should agree with something before the colon.

Specifically, our blank should describe “such protectionism,” and the word “such” also clues us in that we likely need to look back into the previous sentence. In the first part of the sentence, we’re told that “economic competition” “may lead to new forms of economic protectionism that hearken back to the mercantilism of an earlier age.” So, the second part of our sentence should tell us that there is evidence that this protectionism is making a comeback. Let’s see if we have matches in our answer choices.

evanescent

Something that is “evanescent” is fleeting or vanishing, which is essentially the opposite of what we’re looking for. We can eliminate A.

resurgent

Something that is “resurgent” or making a resurgence is witnessing a revival or rising again. This matches our prediction, so we should keep B.

recrudescent

Hmm. This word is likely unfamiliar, but the “re-” prefix generally means again, so it seems like it could be an option. Of course, this is not the best reason to pick an answer, so let’s check the other choices.

transitory

The root “transit” as in “transition” or “public transit,” implies movement. In fact, something “transitory” is fleeting or lasting only a little while, which could make it a match for A, but we know that A was the opposite of what we wanted. A and D are an opposite pair, a common trap on this type of question.

controversial

Something “controversial” tends to cause conflict or is the subject of debate. This doesn’t match our prediction, so we can eliminate E.

inimical

Something “inimical” is hostile or harmful. This answer doesn’t match our prediction, and we didn’t see any similar answers in A through E. We can eliminate F.

Alright, so even if we aren’t sure about C, it seems to be our best option along with B. Indeed, “recrudescent” describes something revived or renewed, so it seems our guess regarding the “re” prefix was true. B and C seem good, but let’s plug them in and double-check.

“Economic competition among nations may lead to new forms of economic protectionism that hearken back to the mercantilism of an earlier age: there are signs today that such protectionism is indeed resurgent / recrudescent.”

Yes, either of these answers would agree with the first part of the sentence that “such protectionism” is witnessing a revival. B and C are correct.

 

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