GRE® Practice | Text Completion Question 8

This is an interesting GRE text completion question in which the sentence explains what nostalgia can do to a person. Another question in which getting the answer right is a function of knowing meanings for words given in the answer choices. Therefore, make sure you know 1000 GRE must know words by learning from a GRE word list. Try the question without looking at the answer explanation. If you face difficulty in arriving at the correct answer, take help from the detailed explanation provided below.

Question 8: Nostalgia can distort the picture of reality by ________ events from one's past and by ________ more recent events.

S No.	Blank 1	S No.	Blank 2
A	eliciting	D	demoralizing
B	edifying	E	disparaging
C	exalting	F	ridiculing

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Explanatory Answer

Meanings for the words given in this question are provided in the table. Before going through the detailed explanation, check whether you are able to arrive at the answer after knowing meanings for the words.

S No.	Word	Meaning
A	Eliciting	Bringing out
B	Edifying	Enlightening and uplifting
C	Exalting	Promoting or praising
D	Demoralizing	Disappointing
E	Disparaging	Derogative or minimizing
F	Ridiculing	Making fun of

Nostalgia is the sentimental feeling that conditions in the past were better than conditions now. The sentence says that this is a distorted picture of reality. Nostalgic people feel (wrongly) that conditions in the past were better than conditions in the present. This happens because nostalgia makes the past look better than it was, and the present worse than it is.

So, events from the past are made better than they were, and more recent events are cast in a more negative light, somehow minimizing them and reducing their worth.

The answer to the first blank cannot be “eliciting”, because nostalgia does not bring out hidden or forgotten memories. Also, the memories (if they are elicited) could also be of negative events.

“Edifying” is incorrect because we are looking for a word that makes past events seem better than they were. Edifying makes past events more enlightening and easier to understand. So, exalting is the best answer for the first blank.

The answer to the second blank cannot be “demoralizing” or “ridiculing”, because events themselves cannot be demoralized or ridiculed.

Choices C and E are the correct answers.