Pop Quiz: GRE Sentence Equivalence Problem “Team America: World Police”

by Jen Dziura Jul 31, 2012

Try this GRE Sentence Equivalence problem! After the jump, you’ll see an explanation from one of our instructors.

The theme song from the film Team America: World Police is meant as a parody, sending up the _________ slogans and anthems that have recently become a disconcertingly ubiquitous aspect of American life.

Select two correct answers.

aggressive
arrogant
boosterish
jingoistic
blustery
bloodthirsty

(Note: When you see six answer choices and square checkboxes, that’s a clue that this is a GRE Sentence Equivalence problem, to which there will always be two correct answers.)

Make your selections before reading any further!

Solution:

Boosterish; jingoistic.

We are asked to describe slogans and anthems that are then described as disconcertingly ubiquitous. While aggressive and bloodthirsty are a near-pair, they are far too strong to describe slogans and anthems.

Arrogant and blustery are also a near-pair (blustery can be used metaphorically, though it’s more often used to describe winds), but don’t quite fit. Boosterish and jingoistic, both implying an uncritical support of something (specifically one’s country, in the case of jingoistic) are much better.