GRE Verbal Practice
Although the film is rightly judged imperfected by most of today’s critics, the film being created today are … it, since its release in 1940 provoked sufficient critical discussion to enhance the intellectual respectively of cinema considerably.
A beholden to
B in debted to
C derivate of
D based on
E distinguishable from
F biased against
Step 1: Logic
The sentence contrast two ideas:
- The 1940 film is imperfect. (negative)
- Despite this, it had an important influence on films today (positive).
So, the blank must mean “owe something to / influenced by”.
Step 2: Options
A beholden to -> means “indebted to” (slightly archaic but valid) B indebted to -> directly means “owe something to” C derivative of -> means “copied from” (too strong slightly off) D based on -> possible, but usually used for content/story, not influence E distinguishable from -> opposite meaning F biased against -> opposite meaning
Step 3: Best fit
the correct sense: today’s films owe something to that 1940 film.
So the best choice is:
B/ indebted to
(A. beholden to could also work in older/literary phrasing, but GRE prefers the more standard form).