PSAT Preparation: Sentence Completion

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PSAT PreparationSentence Completion

• Session 1

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Sentence Completion Questions

• Medieval kingdoms did not become the
  constitutional republics overnight on the
  contrary, the change was ______________.
• A. unpopular
• B. unexpected
• C. advantageous
• D. sufficient
• E. gradual

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Dont be like Joe Bloggs!

• Joe Bloggs does what is most intuitive.
• He tries to solve these questions by rereading
  the sentence five times.
• He puts a different words into the blank each
  time, and picks the one that sounds right.
• How many of your solve multiple choice questions
  this way?

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Whats wrong with Joes method?

• His method takes way too much time!
• Just go back and try to read the sentence five
  times, and youll see what I mean.
• His method is not really reliable, because many
  answers often sound right.

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Youre Smarter Than You Think 1

• Susan was ___________ when the formula, which had
  worked just yesterday, failed to produce the
  expected result.
• Plug a word into the blank any word from your
  head that would complete the sentence correctly.
• How did you know what word to plug in?

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Youre Smarter Than You Think 2

• Although she was never considered pretty as a
  child, Magaret grew up to be a ______________
  adult.
• Plug a word into the blank any word from your
  head that would complete the sentence correctly.
• How did you know what word to plug in?

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Youre Smarter Than You Think 3

• Once a cheerful person, the years of fruitless
  struggle against government waste made him a very
  ____________ man.
• Plug a word into the blank any word from your
  head that would complete the sentence correctly.
• How did you know what word to plug in?

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The Method

• Cover the answer choices with your hand.
• This will ensure that you dont do what Joe
  does, which is to read the sentence five times,
  trying one of the answer choices each time.
• Speak for yourself.
• Read the sentence, and write your own word in
  the blank.
• Uncover the answer.
• Pick the word that comes closest to the word that
  you came up with.

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The Key is Finding the Clue 1

• Susan was _________________ when the formula,
  which had worked just yesterday, failed to
  produce the expected result.
• The clue the formula, which had worked just
  yesterday, failed to produce the expected result.
• So you know that the word has to be something
  like perplexed or puzzled.

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The Key is Finding the Clue 2

• The park was so _____________ that children could
  play in it for hours without getting bored.
• The clue children could play for hours without
  getting bored.
• So you know that the word has to be something
  like interesting or varied.

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Practice Question 1

• Many feature films are criticized for their
  _____________ content, even though television
  news is more often the medium that depicts
  violent events in excessive detail.
• A. discretionary
• B. graphic
• C. dramatic
• D. artistic
• E. honest

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Practice Question 2

• In a vitriolic message to his troops, General
  Patton insisted that he would ____________ no
  further insubordination, no matter how brutal the
  ensuing engagements might become.
• A. impede
• B. brief
• C. denote
• D. brook
• E. expose

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Practice Question 3

• Chang realized that she had been ___________ in
  her duties had she been more ____________, the
  disaster may well have been avoided.
• A. unparalleledcareful
• B. irreproachableaware
• C. derelictvigilant
• D. arbitraryinterested
• E. neglectfulinsensible

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Practice Question 4

• The scientific community was ____________ when a
  living specimen of the coelacanth, which
  ichthyologists had feared was ____________, was
  discovered by deep-sea fishermen.
• A. perplexedcommon
• B. overjoyeddangerous
• C. unconcernedexterminated
• D. astoundedextinct
• E. dismayedalive

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Practice Question 5

• Although Janes professors reproached her as a
  ______________ during her first year in college,
  she became attentive and _____________ once she
  found a major that interested her.
• A. neophyteassiduous
• B. sycophantcritical
• C. loaferfocused
• D. beginneraverage
• E. shirkerdistracted

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Practice Question 6

• The author is reliably ______________ every book
  he writes is more _______________ than the one
  before.
• A. dullinspired
• B. exceptionalhackneyed
• C. artisticinformed
• D. imaginativecreative
• E. originallackluster

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Independent Practice

• Lets try some on our own.
• The Princeton Review Cracking the PSAT (2008
  Edition)
• p. 254, 1-8
• p. 264, 25-29
• Remember to keep the answer options covered until
  you plug in your own words.
• When looking for synonyms for your own words, use
  process of elimination strategies.
• When using these strategies, I encourage you to
  write directly on the handout, as you will be
  writing directly on the PSAT.