Algebra

Link of the Day

If you want a fun way to build your math skills, check out Math Playground. The games here deal with simple math, so tackling them without a calculator is a great way to exercise your brain. 

3/31 Algebra

Read the following SAT test question and then click on a button to select your answer.

Always follow the Knowsys Method and read carefully before you do anything else. Then identify the bottom line. Stop to assess your options: What could I do? What should I do? Attack the problem. After you have an answer, loop back to the bottom line to ensure that your answer is the correct one. Finally, select your answer from among the answer choices. 

If  , then

First, at the top of your scratch work, note the bottom line.



Next, assess your options. You could try to solve for x or for a here, or you could pick one of the answer choices and work backwards to determine whether it is the right answer. However, the fastest and easiest way to solve this problem is simply to solve for the bottom line. The problem provides 5x - 3, so it only takes one step to find the answer:

Pronouns

Link of the Day

BJ Keeton is an author, blogger, and English teacher. His book reviews don't always reveal much about the plot, but they provide a source of quality titles from which you can find many excellent examples. 

3/30 Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

Remember to read through the sentence first, make a prediction, and check that prediction against the grammatical rules you know for proper English. 

ABy the time Mitzie and Bmyself got to the box office, Call of the tickets for the show had already Dbeen sold. ENo error

Sentence Completions

Link of the Day

You probably know Richard Harris best as the original Dumbledore, but over his life he acted in almost eighty different movies and won ten different film awards. He also starred in several plays and musicals on Broadway, most notably as King Arthur in Camelot. Any of the these shows would make an excellent example in your essay. 

3/29 Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted into the sentence, best fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

First read the sentence for clues and make a prediction, then match your prediction to the answer choices. This is the fastest and most reliable way to answer Sentence Completion questions.

A veteran of both stage and screen, Richard Harris brought a certain level of ------ to his roles, lending ------ to each character he played.

This sentence is more subtle than some; it will require logic to figure out the answers, not just definitions. Since Harris is a "veteran," he is experienced with both stage and screen performing. To get experience, he must be talented. You can conclude that both blanks must be positive. Look at the answer choices to see which choices would be positive in the context of show business.

Integers

Link of the Day

Pythagoras, best known to high school students for his Pythagorean Theorem, actually discovered much more than that one formula. Even if you are not mathematically inclined, the beginning of this paper has some interesting notes on how the Pythagoreans--the followers of Pythagoras--lived. 

3/28 Integers

Read the following SAT question and then select your answer.

Always attempt to solve the problem before looking at the answer choices. Read carefully, then identify the bottom line--what the question is actually asking--and mark it at the top of your scratch work. Assess you options by asking "What could I do?" to open your toolbox, then "What should I do?" to select the best way to solve the problem. Attack the problem fearlessly, then loop back to the bottom line to check whether what you found is the correct answer. 

If p is an odd integer, which of the following is an even integer?

At the top of your scratch work, write even = ?

Next, ask "What could I do?" You could think through each answer choice abstractly, determining that if p is odd then... but that is difficult and gets confusing quickly. You could pick a number for p, then use that number to find a value for each answer choice. The smallest odd number is the best for this. Pick one. Since this question includes the phrase "which of the following," the answer is very likely to be D or E. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Link of the Day:

The Map as History is a collection of animated maps. Use them to help you remember interesting details about your five historical examples!

3/27 Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

When you take the SAT, remember to ignore choice A on questions like this. You will have already read the sentence and made a prediction about how to correct it. When you look at the answer choices, starting with E is a good idea because it keeps you from getting distracted by A. 

Reading maps involve several abilities, including the ability to locate places, to ascertain directions, to measure distances, and to interpret the mapmaker's symbols. 

"Involve" may sound correct here because it is next to the plural noun "maps," but "maps" is not the subject of the sentence. To find the subject of any sentence, first identify the verb by asking "What happens in this sentence?" Then put the word "what" before the verb. "What involves?" Obviously, "reading involves." "Reading" is a gerund--a verb acting like a noun--in this sentence, and in fact the gerund phrase "reading maps" is the subject. Another benefit to the "What verbs?" trick is that it puts the subject and the verb right next to each other, often fixing subject-verb agreement problems almost unconsciously. Now that you have a prediction--"involves"--look at the answer choices.

Sentence Completions

Link of the Day

The Mexican-American War, following on the heels of Texas' independence from Mexico, was based on a border dispute. The vast Republic of Texas (which then stretched as far north as today's Colorado) declared that its southwest border was located at the Rio Grande, but Mexico refused to give up land beyond the Rio Nueces--a difference of about 160 miles.

3/26 Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted into the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Remember to focus on the sentence first. The answer choices can change how you think about the problem; often there are tempting choices that would make sense in a certain context, even though that context is not indicated in the sentence. Instead, take clues from the sentence to figure out which answer choice is correct. 

Although the acreage involved in a national boundary dispute may seem insignificant, even the slightest ------ in a country's alleged border appears ------ to that nation, a threat to its security.

Remember to start with the easy blank first; in this case, the second blank. What kinds of things are considered threats? Things that are menacing, ominous, alarming, or unpropitious can all be considered threatening. Look at the answer choices for synonyms of these words.

Equation of a Line

Link of the Day

The BBC is a great source for international news or simply a different perspective on American news. Look at this site or other news sites in the last week or two before you take the SAT to find your five current events examples. Even if you don't normally keep up with the news, looking like you do can increase your score!

3/25 Equation of a Line

Read the following SAT test question and then select your answer.

Remember to follow the Knowsys Method and note the bottom line, assess your options, attack the problem, and loop back to check the question before you select your answer.

A line segment containing the points (0,0) and (12,8) will also contain the point

The bottom line here is which answer choice lies on the given line.

There are multiple ways to solve this problem. You could find the equation of the line, or, since the line goes through the origin, you could use ratios to find a point that has the same relationship between its x and y coordinates.

First, reduce the coordinates to lowest terms. You can arrange them in a ratio format if you wish; whether you prefer or does not matter. You might use  since "rise over run" is also the formula for slope. Reduce this to its lowest terms and then check the answer choices for multiples.



Now convert it back to (x,y) format. Make sure the x and y go in the right places.

(3,2)

Verb Tense

Link of the Day: 

The Milleau Viaduct is one of the longest bridges in France. It is also one of the most beautiful. This website is the official home for the Milleau Viaduct and has details about how, when, and why it was constructed.

3/24 Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

First read through the sentence to see if anything "sounds" wrong. That is your prediction for this type of problem. Sometimes, the part that seems wrong is not underlined; in that case, your prediction is the part that you could change to make the sentence sound right. If nothing sounds wrong, your prediction is E. Check all four underlined parts against the rules of English grammar, starting with your prediction, and you will find the correct answer.

AOnce the suspension bridge replaced the cantilever, the United States Bbecomes the world leader Cin this new Dtype of long-span bridgebuilding. ENo error

Sentence Completions

Link of the Day: 

Tasty Research is a PhD student's blog. It contains links to various interesting and sometimes rather random studies. Although the author has clearly stopped updating, the links are still good and the studies are intriguing.

3/23 Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 

First, read the sentence for clues and make a prediction about what word will go in the blank. Then look at the answer choices for one that matches your prediction.

The research is so ------ that it leaves no part of the issue unexplained.

What kind of research leaves no part of the issue unexplained? Thorough, complete, exhaustive, far-reaching could work in this sentence. Compare these words to your answer choices:

Functions

Link of the Day: 

history.com The History Channel's website is full of fascinating articles and videos. Watch their current series, "Full Metal Jousting," and learn some math facts about St. Patrick's Day.

3/22 Functions

Read the following SAT question and then select your answer. 

Remember to follow the Knowsys Method: Read carefully, identify the bottom line, and assess your options. After you ask, "What could I do?" and "What should I do?" attack the problem, then loop back to check whether you answered the question correctly. Finally, take a look at the answer choices and select the correct one.



The graph of y=f(x) is shown above. If , and if (t,v) is on the graph of f, which of the following must be true?

A glance at the answer choices shows that they all have v, so v=? will do for an imperfect bottom line. Now look at the question again. If t is somewhere from 0 to 5, what does that say about v? Note that t is the x value, and v is the y value, so you need to focus on the part of the graph from x=0 to x=5. In that range, the smallest y value is 5 and the greatest is 10. Now look at the answer choices.











The answer is D.


On sat.collegeboard.org, 56% of responses were correct.


For more help with math, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Idioms

Link of the Day: 

Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press and one of the reasons you have books, magazines, and newspapers all around you today. He was also instrumental in starting the Protestant Reformation; by printing and distributing Martin Luther's 95 Theses, Gutenberg helped to get enough people mobilized against the Catholic Church that they eventually left it.

3/21 Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. 

Remember to read the sentence and predict any corrections before looking at the answer choices. Prediction is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox. It will save you time and help you get more questions right, so use it as often as possible!

Johannes Gutenberg is generally credited to bring together the two main concepts of modern printing: movable pieces of metal type that could be reused, and a printing press for producing sharp images over and over.

The underlined phrase has the word "to," usually used as a preposition, and the verb "bring." However, these don't sound quite right following the word "credited;" the common saying is "credited with," not "credited to." ("Credited to" is correct in certain circumstances, as when discussing finances, but it is not correct here.)

Sentence Completions

Before I start on today's SAT question, I want to take a moment to start a new tradition. The SAT Question of the Day helps to prepare you for multiple choice questions and, to some extent, the grid-ins, but it does not prepare you for the essay. I will attempt to post a link here each day to give you some background on the question of the day and to provide some examples you can memorize to use in your essay.

Link of the Day: 

http://www.diegorivera.com/
Click on "Gallery" or "Murals" to see some of Diego Rivera's artwork.

3/20 Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted into the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 

The instructions for the Sentence Completions sections on the real SAT are longer, but they don't actually say anything more than this. Memorize these instructions, and you can save time on the SAT by not reading their directions! In addition, always remember to use the Knowsys Method and predict every answer.

Despite their ------ proportions, the murals of Diego Rivera give his Mexican compatriots the sense that their history is ------ and human in scale, not remote and larger than life. 

The final phrase, "not remote and larger than life," suggests that the second blank will have a word meaning either "small" or "close." Take a look at the answer choices to narrow down your options.

A) monumental... accessible

B) focused... prolonged

C) vast... ancient

D) realistic... extraneous

E) narrow... overwhelming. 

Only accessible means "close." Look at the first blank to double-check. Murals are large, so you could use "large" as your prediction in the first blank. Fortunately, "large" is exactly what monumental means. The answer is A.

Despite their monumental proportions, the murals of Diego Rivera give his Mexican compatriots the sense that their history is accessible and human in scale, not remote and larger than life.

Words tested in this SC:
monumental: large, grand, and imposing
accessible: easy to approach, reach, enter, or use
focused: concentrated
prolonged: lengthy in duration, extended
vast: very large or wide
ancient: of or in a time long past
realistic: expressed or represented as accurate
extraneous: not essential; extra
narrow: slim, slender; restrictive "a narrow interpretation"
overwhelming: overpowering, staggering; very great or intense.


On sat.collegeboard.org, 64% of responses were correct.


Need to build your SAT Vocab?  Visit www.myknowsys.com to check out the Knowsys Vocabulary Builder Program.

Exponents

Read the following SAT test question and then select your answer.

Remember to follow the Knowsys Method: read carefully, identify the bottom line, assess your options, attack the problem, and loop back to ensure that you answered the question correctly.

If , which of the following must be equivalent to x?

After reading, find the bottom line and note it at the top of your scratch work.

x=?

Next, assess your options. There are two courses of action apparent here: you could pick numbers and plug them into x and y, or you could apply the exponent rules to solve for x. Which would be faster and easier? The exponent rules.



What can you do here? Since you need to isolate x, pay attention to its exponent. Normally, a fraction in an exponent indicates that you need to take a root--in this case, a cube root--but since you cannot take the root of a variable, do the opposite. Cube both sides.



The rule for "power to a power" situations, when an exponent is itself the base of another exponent, is to simply multiply the powers together.



Loop back to your bottom line. You were looking for x, and you found that  . Now look at the answer choices.

Comma Splice

3/17 Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

First, read through the sentence to see what seems wrong. Check each answer choice against the rules of English grammar, and select the choice that has an error.

AIt depends on where in the world it is Blocated, an underground electric-railway system Cmay be called a subway, underground railway, tube, Dor metro. ENo error 



This sentence should wound wrong because it has a comma splice; that is, there are two complete sentences here joined only by a comma. When there are two complete sentences (independent clauses), they must be joined by a either a semicolon alone or a comma with a conjunction. Based on that, it seems that B is the correct answer. Make sure to check all the answer choices before making a decision.

Exponents

Read the following SAT test question and then select your answer.

Follow the Knowsys Method and remember to read the problem, identify the bottom line, assess your options, and attack the problem. Then loop back to check that you answered the right question. For the vast majority of problems, you do not need to look at the answer choices before this point.

What is the largest possible integer value of n for which divides into ?

The bottom line is easy to find here: n=?

Now assess your options. You could look at the answer choices and plug them in, calculate each product, and see whether  can divide by it evenly. But there must be a faster way! This is an exponent problem, so think about your exponent rules. If you can get the bases to match, finding the appropriate value of n will be easy.

Fortunately, 50 is a multiple of 5. It is also a multiple of 25.



Therefore,



Now you can apply the distributive property and the exponent rules.





Now you know that  is a product of  . There's not much you can do from here, so look at the answer choices.

(A) 2
(B) 7
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 14

The answer is E.


On sat.collegeboard.org, 37% of responses were correct.



Want more help with math? Visit www.myknowsys.com!

Idioms

Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. 

The first time through, read the sentence to see if anything "pops." Then check that against English grammar rules to see what is actually wrong and how to fix it. Finally, compare that prediction to the answer choices to find the correct answer.

A major abstract expressionist painter, Willem de Kooning is best known for having controversial paintings of women.

(To diagram this sentence, change the subject to either Willem or Kooning, move it to the beginning of the sentence, and remove "best.")

Even if you don't know what "abstract expressionism" is--I don't--you can infer that it was some kind of artistic movement, and that the specific type of movement is unimportant.

The underlined section is only two words long, including a preposition (for) and a gerund, (having). A gerund looks like a verb and acts like an noun. If you want to get really technical, the entire gerund phrase "having controversial paintings" is the object of the preposition "for." Grammatically, this sentence is fine, so look instead at what it says: An important painter is known for owning paintings of women. Does that make sense? If you were talking about painters and paintings, wouldn't it be more interesting to discuss the paintings in connection to their creators, not their owners? It would, so look for an answer choice that conveys that meaning.

Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 

First, read the sentence, look for clues, and select the easier blank. Make a prediction for that blank and eliminate any answer choices that do not fit your prediction. Then look at the second blank, make a prediction, and compare it to the remaining answer choices.

Eduardo Galeano's novel consists of discrete vignettes, so the reader must supply the invisible ------ binding such apparently ------ parts.

This sentence would be likely to turn up near the end of a sentence completion section because the uncommon words in the sentence make it more difficult. What is a vignette and how is it discrete? If you have no idea what these words mean, then this is almost like an extreme sport for context clues; since some words are already missing from the sentence, it is even harder than normal to figure out words that you don't know. Knowing your vocabulary is essential! If you encounter a sentence like this on the SAT, you have two options: try to figure out what the words mean, or try to restructure the sentence so you don't need them. You can rearrange this sentence fairly easily, as it happens. Remember that "so" is a coordinating conjunction (one of the FANBOYS), so it can separate two independent clauses. Each independent clause is able to stand on its own as a sentence. Let's try chopping this one up:

Eduardo Galeano's novel consists of discrete vignettes. The reader must supply the invisible ------ binding such apparently ------ parts. 

Verb Tense

Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underline material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. 

Read the sentence first to find any errors and predict a correction. Then check for differences among the answer choices to further narrow down your selection to only the correct answer.

Though its early history is not fully known, origami, the art of folding objects out of paper without cutting, pasting, or decorating, seems that it had developed from the older art of folding cloth.

In this sentence, the verb sounds strange--why use "had developed" when there is nothing in the sentence more recent than its subject, origami? Look for an answer choice that has "developed" instead of "had developed."

SAT Prep Tools -- Grammar

I know that grammar can be difficult to understand. Here are two resources I've found that have been a great help to me.

http://1aiway.com/nlp4net/services/enparser/
This automated sentence diagrammer has helped immensely as I write the grammar-related posts on this blog. Simply type in a sentence, and it generates a diagram for you. Then, when you point your cursor at a word, it displays the word, its part of speech, and its function in the sentence. The downsides: On complicated sentences, it often generates multiple diagram or gives an error message ("Could not find an utterance.") Sometimes that error message means that there is a problem in your sentence, but sometimes it just means that the sentence is too long. Also, there is a one-time (free) download before you get started. Just follow the prompts and you should be fine.

http://languagetips.wordpress.com/
The author of this blog reviews grant proposals and other formal writing, mostly in the medical field. Occasionally some topics will crop up that are specific to that field and not to other formal writing, but almost everything posted here is relevant to formal writing in general and, therefore, to the SAT. This is a great place to internalize what correct English looks like and sounds like so that your writing can improve. A grammar blog might seem dry, but the posts and explanations are clear and well-written, and easy to follow. The downsides: It doesn't have a "subscribe by email" field, but it does have an RSS feed to which you can subscribe. I set mine up in a widget on my iGoogle page, but I don't always remember to check it. It will take some discipline to remember and keep up with the blog.

Grammar

Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

Each Identifying Sentence Errors question has, at most, one error. If it looks like there are two errors, always check the apparent mistakes against the grammar rules you know. Often, phrases that are grammatically correct sound strange because so few people actually know and follow the rules of English grammar.

The tiger Ausually hunts by night and Bfeeds on a variety of animals, Cbut it prefers fairly large prey Dsuch as deer and wild pigs. ENo error

Check each answer choice.

Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Always cover the answers before you read! As you read the sentence for the first time, check for any clues about the blank. Make a prediction, then match the answer choices to your prediction.

The test of truth is not ------, for we have often felt firmly convinced of many things that were not so.

What is the sentence saying? Being sure that something is true does not make it true. For your prediction, you can use the phrase "being sure that something is true" or a word that means the same thing. Certainty, confidence, or conviction would work. Now check the answer choices for a synonym.

Geometry

Read the following SAT test question and then select your answer.

First, read carefully and identify the bottom line. Make a note of the bottom line in your scratch work.Then consider the best way to solve the problem, asking "What could I do?" and "What should I do?" Select the fastest method and attack the problem. Finally, loop back to verify that you answered the question correctly.

The perimeter of a 7-sided figure is 15. If the length of each side of the figure is increased by 2 units, what is the perimeter of the new figure?

First, what is the bottom line? Mark it at the top of your scratch work using easy-to-understand shorthand:

new p=?

Next, ask "What could I do?" and "What should I do?" The problem gives the current perimeter and the number of sides, so you could determine the length of each side. You know how much each side changes, so you could calculate the total increase in perimeter. Now determine which one would be faster--if you divide to find the length of each side, you would then need to add the extra length and then multiply to find the total perimeter. If you find the increase in perimeter, you would only need to add that increase to the original perimeter to find the new distance around this polygon. This is the faster method, so attack!

Comparison

Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

Remember to read and make a prediction before looking at the answer choices. Then, matching your prediction to the choices will be faster and easier.

According to the study, personality traits may vary as much from one dog to another as from one person to another.

The underlined word "as" can function as a preposition or as a coordinating conjunction--a conjunction that, like "and," compares items of equal importance. "As" is most often used to create a comparison. Here it compares the personality variations among dogs to those among people, and does not appear to violate any rules of grammar. Now look at the answer choices.

Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted into the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Remember to cover the answers before you read the sentence. This is vital because it saves you time! Read the sentence, predict an answer, and match the answer choices to your prediction.

The success of the Norman invasion depended on ------ logistical operation; in planning it, William the Conqueror wisely left no detail ------.

Since there are two blanks, start with whichever one is easier for you. I like the first one in this sentence. From the mentions of logistics and details, it is clear that the invasion was complicated. Something complex and convoluted would depend greatly on details.

Now look at the answer choices and eliminate any choice where the first word does not match your prediction.

Inclusive Numbers

Read the following SAT test question and then select your answer.

The Knowsys Method starts with reading carefully. This is the most important step because misreading will very frequently lead students to the wrong answer. After you read, note the bottom line and assess your options. Always ask two questions: "What could I do?" and "What should I do?" The first question reminds you to look into your "toolbox" for formulas, strategies, and tricks that might help with the problem. The second leads you to the most efficient way to solve the problem. Once you have selected a method, attack the problem! Then loop back to the top the check your answer against the bottom line.

On the last day of a one-week sale, customers numbered 149 through 201 were waited on. How many customers were waited on that day?

The hardest thing abut this problem is how easy it is. Read carefully: the bottom line is the number of customers waited on during Day 7 of the sale. Note this at the top of your work.

Day 7=

Pronouns

Writing: Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E.

It is important to read for what sounds wrong, but the most important thing to remember in Identifying Sentences questions is to check each answer choice against the Big 8. If it breaks the rules of grammar, it's your answer!

The credit Afor making Franz Kafka internationally famous Bas a writer belongs to his friend, novelist Max Brod, Cwhich despite Kafka’s dying wishes, edited Kafka’s unpublished manuscripts and then Dhad them published. ENo error

Sentence Completions

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

When you take the SAT, remember to cover the answer choices to each sentence completion question. Looking at them will cost you time and possibly confuse you. The most common problem students have is that they look at the answer choices before reading carefully, see a word they know, and convince themselves that it must be the right answer by creating a scenario where that word could work in the context of the sentence. Instead, let the clues in the sentence point you toward the right answer.

Her vague sense of ------ grew into anxiety and then alarm when she discovered that her initial doubts about the success of the undertaking were well-founded. 

The clues here are easy to find: you need something that can grow into anxiety and alarm, a feeling that something bad is coming. Unease, concern, or misgiving would work as a prediction. Remember that you do not need to generate a word for each blank. In this case, if a synonym for worry did not come to mind quickly, you would simply use "a feeling that something bad is coming" as your prediction and check that against each answer choice.