Official ETS verbal practice guide says they don't have to be synonyms?

Hi everyone!

I stumbled upon this question today (attached)- I forcably picked words that were not synonyms as that is what fit into the question, and the answer key is saying the same. But shouldn’t they absolutely be synonyms for sentence equivalence? I have been using Gregmat’s strategy of pairing up before even looking at the question so this seems confusing to me.

Thanks!

Yeah, Greg strategy is not absolute. The real value of this strategy comes in the time it saves when you attempt your question for the first time which in-turns give you time to re-attempt / re-solve the questions on the second go .

Understood, thanks!

Greg also mentioned this particular case in his class, and informed that it’s very rare indeed, and pairing strategy works for 98% time. He could hardly find 1-2 cases like this.