Sentence Completions

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Andrew Jackson was one of our nation's first presidents, and one of the most famous. Today, he is on the $20 bill. The greatest political battle of his presidency centered around the Second National Bank, which he claimed held "undue economic privilege." His determination not to renew its charter presented a major challenge among the political elites, but it gained him 56% of the popular vote in the next Presidential election. 

5/10 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. 

The first thing you should do when you see a Sentence Completions question is cover the answer choices. Looking at the answer choices before you are ready will cost you time and accuracy; instead, make a prediction based on what the sentence actually says. Evaluate the clues in the sentence and choose a word or phrase that describes what is missing. Compare that prediction to the answer choices and eliminate all words that do not match. If you don't know a word, leave it open, but if you're unsure about an answer, choose what you know over what you don't.

Andrew Jackson's ideal vision of an American nation composed of farmers and artisans had become increasingly ----- by the 1860s, when the new ------ economy was turning craftspersons and planters into factory laborers. 

First (after covering up the answers), look at the two blanks and decide which is easiest to predict. In this case, the second one is easier because it must describe an economy that is the opposite of one based on farmers and artisans. In fact, since the sentence mentions factories, factory-based will work as a prediction.

Andrew Jackson's ideal vision of an American nation composed of farmers and artisans had become increasingly ----- by the 1860s, when the new factory-based economy was turning craftspersons and planters into factory laborers. 



Now compare that prediction to the answer choices:

A) antiquated . . agricultural

B) feasible . . industrial

C) elusive . . artistic

D) fanciful . . manufacturing

E) progressive . . urban

You can eliminate A and C because agricultural and artistic economies would not be dependent on factories. Next, look at the first blank in the sentence.

Andrew Jackson's ideal vision of an American nation composed of farmers and artisans had become increasingly ----- by the 1860s, when the new industrial, manufacturing, urban economy was turning craftspersons and planters into factory laborers. 

At a time when the economy was moving from one based on farming and craftsmanship to factories, Jackson's vision was out-of-date and getting more antiquated by the moment. In other words, it was far from feasible, so eliminate B. It was also not progressive because the nation had already left Jackson's vision in the dust, so eliminate E as well. The answer is D.

Andrew Jackson's ideal vision of an American nation composed of farmers and artisans had become increasingly fanciful by the 1860s, when the new manufacturing economy was turning craftspersons and planters into factory laborers. 

Words tested in this SC
antiquated: old-fashioned, out of date
agricultural: related to the art or science of cultivating the ground
feasible: doable, possible, achievable
industrial: of or related to hard work and business, especially manufacturing
elusive: evading capture or comprehension; rarely seen
artistic: having creative skill; relating to art or artists
fanciful: imaginative, creative, and unusual; unreal or imagined
manufacturing: the transformation of raw materials into finished projects, especially on a large scale.
progressive: favoring or promoting progress
urban: related to a city; characteristic of city life


On sat.collegeboard.org, 49% of responses were correct.


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