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. 

Sentence completion questions can involve one or two blanks.  When there are two blanks, do not go back and forth between the blanks and confuse yourself.  Instead, focus on the easy blank, make your prediction, compare your prediction to the answer choices for that blank, and eliminate any choice that does not match.  Use the same process for the other blank.

Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapples, is not ------- in preventing bone and joint diseases, which can make bones susceptible to injury, but it can help injured bones -------.

Do not be intimidated by a name that you have not seen before.  Choose a blank and start working!

You might think that the second blank is easy, so start there.  This enzyme can help injured bones ____.  What do injured bones need to do?  Heal!  Use this word as your prediction and look down at the second words in your answer choices to see which words match.

(A) corrective . . heal
(B) effective . . recover
(C) detrimental . . multiply
(D) supportive . . degenerate
(E) vital . . persist

(A) matches your prediction exactly. (B) means the same thing.  (C) can be eliminated because multiplying something is not the same thing as healing it. (D) is the opposite of your prediction.   Eliminate it. (E) sounds similar to your prediction, but do you ever think of broken bones as persisting?  No.  You can eliminate this option too.  Only (A) and (B) remain.

Look back up at the original sentence and paraphrase it.  Your paraphrase should sound something like this: The enzyme is not ______ in preventing bone problems, but it can help heal them once they happen.  Make a prediction for this blank.  You might not be able to think of an exact word, but you might be able to come up with a phrase that fits the meaning of the sentence, if not the structure, such as “able to.”  On the other hand, maybe you easily fill the blank with a word like “useful.”  The word "helpful" should easily come to mind using the given paraphrase because it directly contrasts the beginning of the sentence with the end of the sentence.  Compare your prediction to the remaining answer choices.

(A) corrective . . heal
(B) effective . . recover

(A)  does not match your prediction, nor does it make sense.  You can only correct a problem after it happens, not before it happens.  You cannot correctively prevent anything.  (B) matches your prediction.

The correct answer is (B).

In this problem you had one word match a prediction exactly, but that one word was not part of the correct answer choice.  Remember that when you have two blanks, both words must make sense in context.

Words used in this SC:
Enzyme: a protein that can produce chemical change
Susceptible: receptive to, likely to be influenced by something
Detrimental: harmful
Degenerate: to deteriorate or lose good qualities
Vital: necessary


On sat.collegeboard.org, 83% of the responses were correct.

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

Logic

Link of the Day

Today’s question is a numbers game, and numbers are very important to species on the edge of extinction.  Some politicians support measures to save endangered species, but there is one Russian politician who is going above and beyond to show his devotion to restoring healthy populations of Siberian white cranes.  Read about Vladimir Putin here and think about the impact that stunts such as this can have on politics.  What would you think if the President of the United States did this?  Is this a current event that you could remember for your essay?

9/6 Logic

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

It is just as essential to read math questions carefully as it is to read reading questions carefully.  If you miss any information, you could solve for a question that is not being asked.  To avoid errors, make a note of the bottom line.  Then assess your options and choose the most efficient method of working the problem.  Attack the problem, clearly writing any scratch work, and loop back to make sure that your answer addresses the bottom line.

The sum of the positive odd integers less than 50 is subtracted from the sum of the positive even integers less than or equal to 50. What is the resulting difference?

Your bottom line is the difference between two sums.  This question is very simple mathematically because it only asks you to add and subtract integers, but it would take a long time to add and subtract all of the integers involved.  The people who created this test know that you do not have a lot of time, so there must be an easier way to solve this problem than writing every single number out.  Think about the question logically.

Start with the two sums.  One is the sum of all the even integers less than or equal to 50.  Write out a few of these numbers so that you can check for patterns.  Remember that zero is an integer, but not a positive number!  The problem calls for positive even and odd integers.  Did you read carefully?

2 + 4 + 6 + 8… 50

The sum of the positive odd integers is subtracted from the first sum, so write a few of these numbers underneath the first set.

              2 + 4 + 6 + 8… 50
          - ( 1 + 3 + 5 + 7… 49)

Notice that if you subtract each number individually, you will always get 1. Two minus one is one.  Four minus three is one.  You get the idea.  This happens all the way up to fifty minus forty-nine is one.

Your problem really looks like this:

              2 + 4 + 6 + 8… 50
          - ( 1 + 3 + 5 + 7… 49)
              1 + 1 + 1 + 1…+1

Now you just need to figure out how many ones to add together.  Think about it this way: you need an even integer and odd integer for each additional one.  How many positive even integers are less than or equal to 50?  Well, half of the integers are even, so the answer is 25.  If you add the number one twenty-five times, what will you get?  Look down at your answer choices.

(A) 0
(B) 25
(C) 50
(D) 100
(E)200

The correct answer is (B).


On sat.collegeboard.org, 48% of the responses were correct.

For more help with the math section of the SAT, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Sentence Structure

Improving Sentences

Part or all 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.  

Read the sentence to yourself, listening for errors.  Evaluate the underlined portion using The Big 8 Grammar Rules.

Althea Gibson, the first African American tennis player to be recognized as a world champion, beginning to play amateur tennis in the 1940s.

This sentence may look really long, but you only have to worry about a part of it.  Look at the section enclosed by commas (the…champion).  This whole phrase is known as an appositive phrase and it simply gives information about the subject of the sentence.  Since the part of the sentence that is underlined is outside the two commas, you can ignore everything inside the commas.  Now the sentence is much shorter:

Althea Gibson beginning to play amateur tennis in the 1940s.

This sentence is a fragment; it sounds as if something else should follow it.  In order to make the sentence a complete sentence, you must change the verb tense.  Think of a way that you could improve the underlined portion without looking at the answer choices.  The correct words might just come to mind. Then look down at your answer choices.

(A) beginning to play
(B) began playing
(C) and she began playing
(D) she began to play
(E) she had begun playing

Do not read (A) because you already know it is wrong.  Only one answer choice begins with the word “began.”  Did you predict the word "began?"  Do not get caught up in worrying about whether it is more correct to write “playing” or “to play” because you can see that all of the options except one add the unnecessary pronoun “she.”  The correct answer must be both concise and clear.

The correct answer is (B).


On sat.collegeboard.org, 87% of the responses were correct.

For more help with the writing section of the SAT, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Sentence Completions

Link of the Day

We hope that you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Labor and jobs are going to be huge issues in the upcoming presidential elections.  Today’s SAT question concerns debating politicians.  If you have never watched a presidential debate, then this is a good year to start!  Anything that is mentioned during the debates will make a great current event for your SAT essay, and referencing the polls taken before and after the debates is one way to talk about current events without advertising your own personal political preferences.  Go here for a schedule of the debates.  Don’t forget that the format and style of the debates can also constitute a current event.  This article will inform you about one woman involved in the debates.

9/4 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. 

Your first step is to cover your answers so that you will not be distracted by wrong answer choices.  Next, read the sentence carefully so that you can find context clues to make a prediction about what goes in the blank.  Make your prediction and then compare your prediction to the answer choices.  Be sure to look at all of the answer choices, eliminating any that do not match your prediction.

Since the two legislators had a long history of major disagreements, the senator considered his colleague’s enthusiastic assurances that they would be in agreement on a forthcoming piece of legislation -------.

This sentence tells you that two men have had a long history of disagreement, but that one man thinks that they will agree in the future.  If you were the second man, what would you think?  No way!  That is overly optimistic and unbelievable.  You would find the assurances “unlikely,” “doubtful,” or even “dubious” if you have been studying your Knowsys SAT words.  Use a word such as “dubious” as your prediction and look down at your answer choices.  Ask yourself whether each choice matches your prediction.  If not, eliminate it!

(A) fatuous
(B) precious
(C) sagacious
(D) meritorious
(E) ignoble

(A) sounds like a negative word, and your prediction is negative, so even though you might not know the meaning you should keep it as an option.  (B) sounds positive and these men do not agree, so eliminate it.  (C) might be a tricky word for you.  Does it sound positive or negative?  If you are not sure, keep it.  (D) meritorious is the opposite of what you want, because you predicted that the assurances were without merit. (E) sounds negative, but look at the word “noble”  There are no clues that the colleague is being “not noble,” or that he is lying about his predictions.  (E) is too negative so it can be eliminated.  Now, remember that you have earned the right to guess on a question if you have eliminated at least two choices.  That does not mean that you should always guess if you eliminate two choices, but take a guess now because this is a practice question.

The correct answer is (A).

Words tested in this SC:
Fatuous: foolish, silly, unreal, illusory
Precious: of great value
Sagacious: wise, shrewd
Meritorious: deserving praise
Ignoble: not honorable


On sat.collegeboard.org, 45% of the responses were correct.

For more help with SAT vocabulary, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Writing Equations

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

Math questions should be read carefully so that you understand each part of the problem.  Take a moment to make a note of the bottom line, the answer you are asked to find, to make sure that you do not accidently solve for the wrong variable or do more work than the problem requires.  Assess your options for solving the problem, choose the most efficient method, and then attack the problem!  Always loop back to make sure that your answer matches the bottom line.

There are n students in a biology class, and only 6 of them are seniors. If 7 juniors are added to the class, how many students in the class will not be seniors?

For this question it is easiest to look at one piece of information at a time.  Your bottom line is the number of students who are not seniors.  Start with the n first.  The n represents the total number of students in the class.  Then you have 6 students from the class that are seniors.  Since you want the number that are not seniors, you must subtract the 6 from the n:
n – 6

Now look at your second piece of information.  7 juniors are added to the class.  Because they are not seniors, they will be added to the number of students who are not seniors:
n – 6 +7

You are not given any more information.  Simplify the equation that you have written:
n + 1

Even though you have not found an exact number, this equation represents the number of students in the class that will not be seniors.  Now look down at your answer choices.

(A) n – 3
(B) n – 2
(C) n – 1
(D) n + 1
(E) n + 2

The correct answer is (D).


On sat.collegeboard.org, 66% of the responses were correct.

For more help with the math section of the SAT, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Pronouns and Idioms

Link of the Day

Today’s SAT question has to do with basketball.  As you select your current events for your SAT essay, choose events that interest you, but remember that your goal is to convince readers that you are thoughtful and well informed.  A single basketball game might not make a great current event, but analyzing the success of a team or taking a look at an individual’s impact on society could be a fascinating intellectual exercise.  A lot of SAT questions deal with the themes of change, motivation, and success; these are themes that are easy to spot in any sport. Take a look at this article and think about the way that it links sports and education.  Particularly notice the current trends in urban education.  

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. 

Read the original sentence to yourself, listening for errors.  Once you have read the sentence carefully, go through and check each underlined portion against the Big 8 Grammar Rules.  Mark any error you find, but be sure to quickly check the remaining portions before selecting your answer.

According to Atheir high school basketball coach, Balthough Beth and her sisters worked equally hard in practice, Beth Ctended to outperform them both Dduring games. ENo error

(A) is a pronoun so check to make sure it agrees with its antecedent.  This is a tricky antecedent to find because the antecedent actually comes after the pronoun; it is “Beth and her sisters.”  Both the pronoun and antecedent are plural, so (A) has no error.

(B) underlines “although.”  This word necessitates a contrast, so check to make sure that there is a contrast in the sentence.  You read that all the girls work hard, but that Beth excels during games.  The contrast is necessary and (B) has no error.

(C) isolates an idiom.  After the word “tend” or “tended,” the “to” is necessary before the statement of what that person tends to do.  (C) has no error.

(D) is a preposition qualifying when Beth performs the best.  It is idiomatically correct to say “during” games rather than saying “for” games or using any other preposition because games last a specific duration of time.

(E) is the only option that you have left.  Even though you might be able to revise this sentence to sound better, there are no grammatical errors.  Do not be afraid to pick (E) once you have checked all of the blanks for errors!

The correct answer is (E).


On sat.collegeboard.org, 45% of the responses were correct.

For more help with SAT questions, visit www.myknowsys.com!

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. 

Cover up your answers and look at the sentence.  You are given a sentence with two blanks.  Choose the blank that seems easy to you, predict an answer, and eliminate any choices that do not match your prediction for that blank.  Then do the same with the other blank.

There was no denying the lecturer’s ------- , but her arguments were unsophisticated and ------- .

After reading the sentence, you must choose which blank you want to focus on first .  The second blank seems a little easier than the first, so look at it.  The speaker’s arguments were “unsophisticated” and “blank.”  This is a good time to make a vague prediction rather than spending a lot of time trying to guess the specific word that fits in the blank.  The word “unsophisticated” is a negative word, so you know that the word in the blank must also be negative because the two words are connected with the word “and.”  Eliminate all of your answer choices that do not have a negative word for the second blank:

(A) bravura . . precise
(B) boorishness . . unoriginal
(C) charisma . . vapid
(D) competence . . infallible
(E) indifference . . benign

(A) Precision is something you want in a lecturer so it is positive.  Eliminate this answer choice.  (B) “Unoriginal” is a negative word so keep this choice. (C) If you do not know a word, keep it.  (D) Not being able to fail is good, so “infallible” is positive and you can eliminate this answer choice. (E) If you do not know a word, keep it.

Now look at the first blank.  Notice that it must contrast with the second part of the sentence because there is a “but” between the two parts.  Since both of the words in the second part of the sentence are negative, the first blank must hold a positive word.  Look at the answer choices that you have left and eliminate any that do not have a positive word for the first blank:

(B) boorishness . . unoriginal
(C) charisma . . vapid
(E) indifference . . benign

(B) “Boorishness” is a negative word so it matches the second part of the sentence.  Eliminate it.  (C) “Charisma” is a positive word.  Keep it, but be sure to check all of the answer choices.  (E) “Indifference” is a negative quality in a speaker so you can eliminate this answer choice.

The correct answer is (C).

Words used in this SC:
Unsophisticated: unrefined
Bravura: a display of daring for show
Precise: accurate
Boorishness: being a boor, a rude person
Charisma: personal charm or magnetism
Vapid: dull, insipid
Infallible: incapable of error
Indifference: lack of interest
Benign: kind, mild, or not a threat


On sat.collegeboard.org, 58% of the responses were correct.

For more help with SAT vocabulary, visit www.myknowsys.com!