Explanation

An overview of the passage suggests that the first sentence is relatively self-contained and that the blank is answerable without the succeeding sentences, where the topic shifts slightly. The colon after the first blank signals that what follows will define the word in the blank and will explain what danger Mill was concerned about. It says that without challenge, one’s opinions grow “weak and flabby” and therefore one becomes complacent, not tendentious or fractious. A quick reading of the next two sentences suggests that the topic will be another danger that Mill described, “the danger of partiality and incompleteness.” Free and open discussion needs to take place because each person’s opinion tends to “embrace only a portion of the truth” and others’ views are partially right, or never completely “erroneous.” The other choices for the second and third blanks deal with change, immediacy, or antithesis, none of which relate to the
second danger of “partiality” or “incompleteness.”
_________________

My GRE Resources
Free GRE resources | GRE Prep Club Quant Tests
If you find this post helpful, please press the kudos button to let me know !

What readers most commonly remember about John Stuart Mill’s classic exploration of the liberty of thought and discussion concerns the danger of (i)__________: in the absence of challenge, one’s opinions, even when they are correct, grow weak and flabby. Yet Mill had another reason for encouraging the liberty of thought and discussion: the danger of partiality and incompleteness. Since one’s opinions, even under the best circumstances, tend to (ii)__________, and because opinions opposed to one’s own rarely turn out to be completely (iii)__________, it is crucial to supplement one’s opinions with alternative points of view.




Blank (i) Blank (ii) Blank (iii)
A. tendentiousness D. embrace only a portion of the truth G. erroneous
B. complacency E. change over time H. antithetical
C. fractiousness F. focus on matters close at hand I. immutable


So, key words here:
i) the danger of () in the absence of challenge. What do we get without challenge? Not tendentiousness (testiness), or fractiousness (likely to become a fight). Complacency.
ii) additional reason: danger of partiality and incompleteness. One's opinions tend to embrace only "a portion of the truth".
iii) it's crucial to supplement one's opinions with alternative points of view. Why? Because opinions opposed to one's own rarely turn out to be completely "erroneous".
_________________

I'm a GRE tutor in Boston, available for in-person and Skype tutoring. I scored a 170V/166Q, and I love talking about education.

The best way to study for the GRE is through an error log, either spreadsheet or app-based. I recommend 21st Night, an error log app that I created.

Check out my 3 month GRE study plan.