Can someone explain evidence for penetrating over honest?

GRE Verbal Problem Solving
1

I can somewhat understand the rationale from a logic standpoint (two supporting ideas, the second idea is more about depth/real insights rather than about honesty). Did I just fall into a trap thinking lucid and honest are synonyms or is there not a lot of evidence supporting penetrating either?

Screenshot 2025-07-29 at 4.38.01 PM
Screenshot 2025-07-29 at 4.38.01 PM2222×1066 273 KB

2

That’s okay.

The blanks are describing different things though:

  • Blank 1 describes the nature of the author’s critique
  • Blank 2 describes the type of writing/prose that readers of economics prefer

So they wont necessarily be the same word.

3

So where is the evidence that supports penetrating as the best adjective to describe the critique of modern economics is penetrating?

4

2025-07-31 at 12.49.07@2x
2025-07-31 at 12.49.07@2x1578×1274 199 KB

It’s the second definition, meaning acute or discerning. Because the author can explain things in simple words, we have evidence that his critique has a good understanding of economics.

That said, this is a GregMat question, we encourage practicing with ETS questions.