All PSAT Critical Reading Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #215 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
__________ by his pacifism, Gandhi knew he had to find another solution for his people, rather than violence.
Incensed
Liberated
Emboldened
Constrained
Envenomed
Constrained
"Constrained" means restricted. Restricted by his belief in nonviolence, Gandhi knew he had to find another way to achieve his goals.
Example Question #216 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The scientist was __________ when it was discovered that he had falsified his research data in order to get results that would make him famous.
substantiated
emulated
discredited
imputed
corroborated
discredited
To "discredit" is to harm the reputation of or to disgrace.
Example Question #217 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The king __________ the throne after his infidelity to the country became public, allowing his son to ascend the throne.
abdicated
tarnished
took
descended
beatified
abdicated
"Abdicate" means give up royal power. Since the king had created a scandal with his infidelity or disloyalty, he would likely given up the crown. “Beatify” means make extremely happy or make a saint, “descend” means lower, and “tarnish” means lessen in value—none of which logically answer the question.
Example Question #218 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The composer was masterfully able to __________ the very different styles of music into a beautiful score.
burden
clash
scramble
integrate
delineate
integrate
"Integrate" means bring together into a unified whole, and in this context we are looking for a word that expresses the merging of the two pieces into one. The contextual clues of "masterfully" and "beautiful" tell us that it should be a positive thing, and this is why "integrate" is chosen over "clash" or "scramble." "Clashing" would imply a bad combination and "scramble" would imply randomness.
Example Question #219 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Although he won the election in a landslide vote, the senator soon __________ his constituents by reneging on his campaign promises.
propitiated
appeased
placated
alienated
mollified
alienated
The correct answer refers to how the senator, although initially receiving the support of his constituents in the election, lost that support by not following through on his campaign promises ("alienated"). The incorrect answers refer to how the senator pleased his constituents, the opposite of what occurred.
Example Question #220 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
During the XYZ Affair, President Adams' advisors __________ in favor of war, but Adams wisely refused to listen to their advice.
mitigated
counseled
audited
deplored
exacerbated
counseled
From the second part of the sentence you know that Adam’s advisors were given him some form of advice; this means the blank has to mean to give advice. The correct answer is counseled. Exacerbate mean to exaggerate; audited means to check efficiency or finances; deplored means to find something unacceptable; mitigated means to have partly excused an offense.
Example Question #221 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The priest __________ the young boys about their troublesome behavior.
accepted
sermonized
commended
reviled
rewarded
sermonized
This question involves a small amount of critical thinking on your part. Although it might be possible that the priest would reward, commend, revile or accept the boys for their troublesome behavior it does not seem particularly logical. The SAT will never trick you in this manner; the most reasonable answer choice will always be the correct one. In this instance the correct answer is sermonized which means to lecture someone about their behavior.
Example Question #222 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Thanks to his years of experience, the scientist felt confident he could __________ from his findings and claim new theories.
extrapolate
pontificate
deduce
extract
excise
extrapolate
While all the answers make some sense in the sentence, only “extrapolate” has the correct sense of making further claims than the evidence shows precisely. In this case, going through each word for the best fit is the appropriate method to get the answer.
Example Question #223 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The masseuse __________ her patient's back until it was free from knots and tension.
limped
kneaded
whisked
patrolled
maneuvered
kneaded
We can infer that because the sentence is discussing a "masseuse" who is freeing his patient's back from "knots and tension," we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "massaged." "Kneaded," a verb that can mean "massaged or squeezed with the hands," best describes the masseuse's massaging of his patent's back, so "kneaded" is the correct answer.
Example Question #224 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word that best completes the following sentence.
After he broke the fence post, Quinn’s mother sent him to __________ his action by repairing the fence for the neighbor.
lament
confess
declaim
begrudge
rectify
rectify
Since Quinn’s mother wants him to repair the neighbor’s fence, she wants him to set right the state of affairs that he had disrupted. To “rectify” means to correct or make right. The word is derived from the Latin root “rectus”, meaning “right or straight” (found in English words like “correct”, “rectitude”) and is also related to “reg-” words like “regulate” and “regular.” The “-fy” at the end of the word means to make and has many uses in English, being derived from the Latin for “to do or make” (a root that has many derivatives, from “factor” and “factory” to “perfect” and “affair”).