PSAT Critical Reading : Parts of Speech in One-Blank Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Critical Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #441 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Instead of paying his own bills, Bob decided to __________ off his parents, living in their house, using all of their utilities and food without paying at all.

Possible Answers:

swindle

leech

steal

rip

pilfer

Correct answer:

leech

Explanation:

Although one might say that Bob is stealing from his parents, the sentence only uses language of using without payment. When someone relies upon another party without giving anything in return, such a person is often called a “leech” from the name for the small worm that often lives by sucking fluid from a host organism. This is what Bob is doing, at least with regard to his parents’ housing, utilities, and food.

Example Question #442 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The riot police were careful not to __________ the angry crowd that had gathered in the central plaza.

Possible Answers:

disdain

incite

foster

nullify

placate

Correct answer:

incite

Explanation:

"Incite" means to provoke or agitate. "Foster" means to promote or support. "Disdain" means to scorn or despise. "Placate" means to soothe or pacify. "Nullify" means to cancel or revoke.

Example Question #443 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Although Robert had an even temper about most matters, he would become greatly __________ when someone would misquote him to others.

Possible Answers:

infuriated

surprised

quizzical

perplexed

disturbed

Correct answer:

infuriated

Explanation:

The contrast in this sentence is between an even temper and something that is “greatly” different to it. When someone is “infuriated,” he or she is extremely angered. The word has an obvious relationship to the English “fury,” which is an extreme form of anger. To be “infuriated” literally means “to be led into extreme anger.”

Example Question #569 : Sentence Completion Questions

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Joseph was assigned the task of __________ any company-wide emails, taking particular care to amend any remotely offensive wordings.

Possible Answers:

studying

censoring

reading

perusing

reviewing

Correct answer:

censoring

Explanation:

Although Joseph might be said to have to oversee, study, or review the emails, note that he has to “amend (i.e. change) any remotely offensive wordings;” therefore, his task is more than mere “review” or “perusing.” Instead, he must censor the contents. While we often think of censoring as “bleeping” out offensive words on television, it more broadly means the process of removing anything offensive before something enters the public forum.

Example Question #444 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Since the small pond rarely received any inflow or outflow, its waters often would __________, encouraging the breeding of insects and the growth of scum.

Possible Answers:

stagnate

erode

clot

sicken

nauseate

Correct answer:

stagnate

Explanation:

The key expression in this sentence is “rarely received any inflow or outflow.” Since the pond had little movement of water, it could be said to “stagnate,” which means having no flow (either of a body of water or air). It comes from the Latin for “pool” in the sense of a “still” body of water.

Example Question #1481 : Psat Critical Reading

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The reduction of qualified workers at the clothing factory only served to __________ the quality of the material produced; this caused the company to lose a great deal of business.

Possible Answers:

eradicate

enforce

compromise

remedy 

improve

Correct answer:

compromise

Explanation:

From the context of the sentence you know that whatever happened to the quality of the material produced caused the company to lose business. From this you can infer that something negative has occurred. Of the five answer choices only compromise matches the context of the sentence. Compromise, in this sense, means to lessen the quality of value of something and is one of the secondary meanings of the word. Enforce means to make people obey a rule; improve means to make better; eradicate means to get rid of; remedy means to fix.

Example Question #1482 : Psat Critical Reading

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

“Isn't there anything we can do to __________ this situation?” the president of the company asked his lawyer.

Possible Answers:

extol

aggrandize

distend

ameliorate

amalgamate

Correct answer:

ameliorate

Explanation:

"Ameliorate" means to improve or make better. "Aggrandize" means to cause something to seem or be grander or bigger. "Amalgamate" means to blend or intermix. "Distend" means to inflate from within. "Extol" means to acclaim or sing the praises of.

Example Question #1483 : Psat Critical Reading

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

By constructing a new highway, the engineers hoped to __________ traffic away from the busy center of the city.

Possible Answers:

divert

cloister

foster

expand

alter

Correct answer:

divert

Explanation:

From the sentence, the best inference we can infer is that the traffic is being moved away from the center of the city. To "expand" means to increase or extend the traffic—clearly, we don't want to do that; the center of the city would be even busier! Likewise, "foster" means to encourage or support the traffic—we don't want to support heavy traffic, we want it to go away! "Cloister" means to contain something in a small space, but this doesn't fit with idea of moving traffic away. "Alter" is very close to the meaning we are looking for; it means to change, but the best answer is "divert," which means to move away from something. It's a little more specific and fits the context of the sentence better.

Example Question #1483 : Psat Critical Reading

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Mongol invaders were known to __________ a siege for as long as necessary.

Possible Answers:

imagine 

imitate 

counsel 

prolong 

deplore 

Correct answer:

prolong 

Explanation:

From the context of the sentence you know that the blank must relate to some quality that extends a siege for as long as necessary. Prolong means to extend the length of time of something, and is the correct answer. Imitate means to copy; counsel means to advise; deplore means to strong disapprove of something.

Example Question #1485 : Psat Critical Reading

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Just a slight reminder was all that was needed to __________ Henrietta’s rage about her husband’s negligence.

Possible Answers:

recall

inflame

articulate

enunciate

state

Correct answer:

inflame

Explanation:

The key word in this sentence is “rage.” The implication of the sentence is that a slight reminder is all that is required to make Henrietta show her extreme anger about her husband. When applied to the emotions of another person, something is said to “inflame” when it brings out a very strong reaction from said person. Since the sentence speaks of Henrietta’s rage (a strong emotion), “inflame” is the best option for the verb. The word has the sense of “setting on fire,” which is obvious from the “-flam-” portion of the word, which is related to “flame.”

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