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 #1033 : One Blank Sentences

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

Although the question of the soul’s immortality was interesting to the physicist, he was not currently concerned with it, as it was __________ to the questions he was asking in his experiment on the rotation of the earth on its axis.

Possible Answers:

extraneous

disconcerting

absurd

ridiculous

upending

Correct answer:

extraneous

Explanation:

The important thing to note in this sentence is that, in his experiment at least, the physicist is unconcerned with the question of the soul’s immortality. The question could be said to be “outside” of his concerns or irrelevant for his considerations. When something is called “extraneous” it is being described as being thus unrelated. The word comes from the Latin for “external” or “foreign.”

Example Question #831 : One Blank Sentences

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

While working in retail, I encountered many __________ customers, who always considered thelmselves superior to me.

Possible Answers:

haughty

brazen

fortuitous

benevolent

empathetic

Correct answer:

haughty

Explanation:

Because the customers considered themselves superior, they were most likely arrogant while talking down to me, making them "haughty."

Example Question #1035 : One Blank Sentences

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

For twenty years he lived a _________ existence before finally marrying and settling down.

Possible Answers:

content

quaint

peaceful

peripatetic

reclusive

Correct answer:

peripatetic

Explanation:

The key word in this sentence is “settling.”  The opening phrase of the sentence stands in contrast to the second clause, and the missing word needs to be the opposite of “settling.”  Only “peripatetic” is an antonym of “settling.”

Example Question #1036 : One Blank Sentences

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

Lauren could calmly accept any true criticism, but she found the remarks made by John to concern ultimately insignificant matters and be rather __________ in nature.

Possible Answers:

unreflective

petty

questionable

playful

quizzical

Correct answer:

petty

Explanation:

The key expression here is “insignificant matters.” Therefore, she found John’s critiques to be rather small or insignificant. The best word to describe such things would be “petty,” which means “small” or “trivial.” It is related to the French “petit,” meaning small, and which is often used in English in the same sense.

Example Question #1037 : One Blank Sentences

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

Never one to waste words, Julius Caesar's military dispatches were __________ and almost curt.

Possible Answers:

noble

effusive

bellicose

dreary

laconic

Correct answer:

laconic

Explanation:

The idea here is that Caesar never wasted words, so that should mean his dispatches were short. So, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like short. "Effusive" is the opposite of short; it means overflowing, unreserved, and exuberant.  "Dreary" means boring or uninteresting—it doesn't fit with our expectation of being short.  Neither does "noble," which means upstanding or righteous, nor does "bellicose," which means warlike. The best answer choice is "laconic," which means terse, concise, or using few words.

Example Question #1038 : One Blank Sentences

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

Zachary took the numerous encouraging events to be _________ signs of a positive turn of events in his life.

Possible Answers:

questionable

felicitous

fortuitous

inconstant

auspicious

Correct answer:

auspicious

Explanation:

The best word here is “auspicious,” thought “felicitous” is a very tempting trap word. The latter indicates that something is pleasing or very appropriate for the given circumstances. When something is “auspicious” it is not merely a “happy chance” but moreover indicates (or at least forecasts) future success, something for which Zachary was hoping, as indicated by the interpretation of these signs as hopefully indicating “a positive turn of events.” The word “auspice” literally means a token of prophecy, coming from the Latin word for one who looks at birds to discover the will of the gods. When one says that something was “done under the auspices of X,” he or she means that X supported the given undertaking.

Example Question #1039 : Sentence Completion

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

Although he tried to find a pattern amid the __________ stock prices, the markets’ volatility was too great for him to discover any short-term or long-term order.

Possible Answers:

receding

fluctuating

soaring

falling

unkempt

Correct answer:

fluctuating

Explanation:

When something fluctuates, its changes in an irregular manner, making it hard to predict that which is fluctuating. That this is the case in our sentence is hinted by the fact that the “volatility was too great” for any kind of forecasting. The word is derived from the Latin verb for “to flow,” and has related English words like “flux” and “influx” as well as “influence” and “fluid.”

Example Question #1040 : Sentence Completion

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

Although the house was relatively new, it was in a state of significant disrepair, to the point that it looked much worse than many old, __________ buildings in town.

Possible Answers:

Victorian

outdated

outmoted

venerable

dilapidated

Correct answer:

dilapidated

Explanation:

The implication in this sentence is that the house was in more disrepair than even many other deteriorating houses in town. The best word to match this sense is “dilapidated,” which means “falling apart due to age or lack of care.” It is derived from the prefix “di-” meaning “apart or down from” and the Latin word for stone, “lapis.” The stone lapis lazuli is so named because it is the stone (lapis) from the place in Persia (now Iran) that was Latinized as Lazulus.

Example Question #851 : Sentence Completions

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

Looking back on the many obstacles that he faced in his life, Luca could not help being amazed at his ability to overcome such __________ difficulties.

Possible Answers:

unexpected

redoubtable

questionable

fortuitous

inflexible

Correct answer:

redoubtable

Explanation:

The sense of the sentence is that Luca had many formidable difficulties in his life. If something is particularly difficult in this manner, it is called “redoubtable.” The word does not mean “to doubt again.” Instead, the “re-” prefix here is an intensifier, meaning that the word literally means something like “really doubtable” (because it is so difficult).

Example Question #852 : Sentence Completions

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

In a world filled with right-handed people, those who are left-handed regularly find themselves forced to become __________, often becoming adept at performing tasks with their both hands because they have been forced by lack of any other options.

Possible Answers:

persecuted

excluded

unsupported

embittered

ambidextrous 

Correct answer:

ambidextrous 

Explanation:

The key is that these persons often perform actions with both hands, which is precisely what being “ambidextrous” means. Literally, it means, both (are) right or both hands are as good as right hands.

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