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Difficulty: MediumLeveraging Secondary and Obscure Word Definitions

Despite her formal training in classical orchestral composition, the young musician retained a pronounced ________ for traditional folk melodies, frequently incorporating regional modal structures into her symphonic works. Which TWO of the following options, when inserted into the blank, produce sentences that are logically coherent and equivalent in meaning?

  1. penchantAnswer
  2. bentAnswer
  3. C
    aversion
  4. D
    antipathy
  5. E
    proficiency
  6. F
    mastery

Answer

The correct selections are the words meaning a strong natural preference or inclination: 'penchant' and 'bent'.
The sentence setup relies on the contrast signal 'Despite', setting up an opposition between classical training and an innate preference for folk melodies. Both 'penchant' and the noun form of 'bent' convey a natural inclination or leaning, satisfying the contextual requirement and producing sentences of identical meaning.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze structural transition signals and sentence context
The opening concession signal 'Despite' establishes a contrast between the musician's formal classical training and her persistent preference for folk music. The clause 'frequently incorporating regional modal structures' confirms a positive inclination toward folk melodies.
Understanding the structural logic dictates the necessary semantic polarity of the missing word.
2
Determine the required meaning of the blank
The blank requires a noun denoting a strong natural inclination, liking, or leaning toward a specific musical style.
Defining the target concept isolates candidate vocabulary choices.
3
Identify synonymous pairs that fit the contextual definition
'Penchant' directly means a strong leaning or preference. 'Bent', when used as a noun, carries the obscure or secondary definition of a natural inclination or propensity, forming a complete sentence equivalence pair with 'penchant'.
GRE Sentence Equivalence requires two words that fit the blank independently and yield equivalent overall meanings.

Key Concept

Secondary Noun Meaning of Common Words (bent)
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Topics

Leveraging Secondary and Obscure Word Definitions

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