Sentence completion questions make up around a
quarter of the content on the critical reading section of the SAT.
Although it may seem easy to literally fill in the blanks, these
questions require knowledge of vocabulary, quality as well as depth
of thought. Who ever thought all that could be measured in a
multiple choice question?
So, in this lesson, we'll cover strategies in which you can use to
improve your ability to critically read and analyze the given
sentence to choice the correct answer.
Format of the Question
You'll be given a sentence with one or two blanks in it. It is then
your job to fill in those blanks with the best possible vocabulary
word provided below in the multiple choice. Oftentimes the words
used will not be too familiar, so you must use your known
vocabulary knowledge as well as logic to figure out the answer.
Before we get to strategy, let's first look at an example question
from about.com to get our barrings on what the questions you'll be
dealing with look like.
Her style of clothing is best described as
------: her leopard-print jackets and gold stilettos, combined with
her boisterous attitude, always make her the center of
attention.
A. demure
B. self-effacing
C. confident
D. grand
E. flamboyant
A is for Answer
As you can
see, the words given in the multiple choice all have a distinct set
of definitions that would possibly make them a fit for this
sentence. The best way for your to not be stuck in a rut while
coming across these words is to practice, practice, practice your
vocabulary. You can do this by taking a vocabulary test or working
on some trivia within this very community; you can even improve
your vocabulary by just reading! Read whenever and wherever you
can. Even if it's just scanning a newspaper, a website, a novel or
a magazine, you'll be improving your vocabulary.
Knowing a basic definition of a base of words will provide a great
resource. Since many of these words overlap as synonyms they can
cover a lot of ground as far as the SAT sentence completions
section goes.
Strategy
Now I'll take you through some simple steps to answer these
sentence completion questions easily and with accuracy.
Read the sentence
ignoring the blanked out word. Most likely an image or
visual will come into your head about the sentence you've just
read.
- Taking for example our lady in the leopard-print jacket and
stilettos. We can see her laughing it up. Maybe you see this person
as loud, obnoxious or over-the-top. Without even looking at the
available answers, we've started a list of possibilities!
Now look at the answer
options. What words match with your image? Do a couple
possibilities stick out? Do the words you've listed in the first
step make up a couple synonyms for your possible word choice?
- With our leopard-clad lady's "boisterous attitude" along with
her flashy clothing, we've come up with words like over-the-top,
obnoxious and loud. Out of the list of options we've been given,
the best choices in my mind would be "grand" and "flamboyant". Now
we have to limit our choices once more.
Process of
Elimination.When we have a couple words we think would
work, we must put one against the other to see what each word
denotates (the dictionary type definition of the word) as well as
connotates (outside suggestions and what the word makes us think of
or relates to).
- GRAND: A proper denotation of the word off the top of my head
(which is also a great way to test whether you need to practice up
on your vocab or not) would be something that is awesome, wonderful
and positive. A connotative definition might be associations like
"a grand banquet" or "that was quite grand". Both of these
definitions indicate that the word is positively charged which
doesn't really match with her being boisterous as this is a
negative characteristic.
- FLAMBOYANT: A denotation would be someone who goes overboard,
over-the-top. And a connotation of the word would be something
loud, outgoing and has a negative association to it. In connection
to our list of words and images, I think we have a winner!
Double
Check. Just to make sure, test out the word in the
sentence. Does it sound correct? Does it fit with you image? If it
does, great! Block off the answer and you're free to move onto the
next!
Tricks of the Trade
Read Clearly: make sure you
don't miss any important parts of the sentence that may help you
determine the right answer
Watch the Time: you should
probably spend around just under a minute per question, so make
sure you budget your time accordingly
Practice your Vocab:
knowing the words will make it really easy for you to pick out the
correct word
Double Check your Markings:
make sure you've filled in the right answer on your answer
sheet
Don't Panic: If you come
across a question you can't answer, skip it and come back to it.
With a better trained mind after a few more questions it will
probably come back to you. Just don't forget about the unfilled
questions!
With the format, strategy and tricks of the trade under your belt,
you'll be able to approach any question with ease and those blanks
will become correct words in no time!!
If you study to remember, you will forget, but, If you study to understand, you will remember.
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Post Comments
You’re absolutely right, the pacing is pretty fast between the passage questions. But I would suggest going through the steps, even if you find you’re running through them quickly. The process of elimination can be sped up depending on what you believe the answer could be after first skimming the question and passage. If you find you’re running out of time, spend more time reading clearly and skip the double check. If you’ve read clearly, the answer should come to you strongly and you can write in that answer. But as you say, watching the time is key!