Sentence Equivalence (SE) gives you a single sentence with one blank and six answer choices. You must select exactly two — the two words that both (1) fit the sentence logically and (2) produce two completed sentences that are alike in meaning.
SE is roughly 25% of Verbal Reasoning, appearing four times per module. Like Text Completion, it fuses vocabulary with logic, but it adds a twist unique to this format: the correct answer is almost always a near-synonym pair.
A correct choice must satisfy both of these. Missing either disqualifies it:
A word can fit the sentence perfectly and still be wrong — if no other choice shares its meaning, it cannot be part of an equivalent pair.
You earn the point only if you select both correct words and no incorrect word. There is no partial credit for getting one of the two right.
This makes SE unforgiving of half-analysis. Selecting one correct word plus one trap word scores exactly zero — the same as two wrong answers.
Because you are looking for a pair that agrees in meaning, the fastest solvers first decide what the blank must mean, then hunt the six choices for two words that both match that meaning. Scanning the choices cold and asking "does this one fit?" one at a time is slow and trap-prone. The disciplined approach — predict, then pair — is the subject of the next lesson.
SE choices draw on the same graduate-level word list as Text Completion. Expect words such as laconic (using few words), garrulous (excessively talkative), venerate (regard with deep respect), castigate (criticize severely), and ephemeral (lasting a very short time). Two of the six will often be near-synonyms of each other yet wrong for the sentence — the format's signature trap.