SAT Critical Reading : One-Blank Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Critical Reading

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #156 : Nouns In One Blank Sentences

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

Thinking about the exciting advances in the methods of charting the stars, Peter looked on his shelf at his measuring tools and seeing the __________ sitting there, he decided to name his first son after the instrument.

Possible Answers:

globe

astrolabe

atlas

ruler

compass

Correct answer:

astrolabe

Explanation:

Although many of the other instruments listed here are tempting, we know that the most appropriate tool would be that which would most definitely be used for charting stars. Such a tool is an “astrolabe,” which was used in navigation based on the stars. It means literally to take the stars. You should know the “astro-” root word, which is found in words like “astronaut” and “astronomy.”

Example Question #157 : Nouns In One Blank Sentences

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

Donald never had the strongest __________, but as he aged, all of his friends increasingly worried that any sickness might significantly debilitate the little natural vigor that he had.

Possible Answers:

immunity

outlook

constitution

leukocytes

digestion

Correct answer:

constitution

Explanation:

A “constitution” in general regards the makeup of something. (One can say that something is “constituted of” a number of parts). When applied to a person, it often carries with it the sense of signifying that person’s physical state and vigor. Since the sentence focus not on Donald’s immune system as much as his “little natural vigor,” it is better to choose “constitution” than some of the other potential options like “immunity” or perhaps (for the biologists) “leukocytes.”

Example Question #253 : One Blank Sentences

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

In the opinion of the whole town, Henry was nothing but a __________, taking money from people without repaying, drinking alcohol all day, refusing to care for his children, and regularly vandalizing others’ property.

Possible Answers:

idler

freeloader

mooch

cadge

wastrel

Correct answer:

wastrel

Explanation:

A “wastrel” is quite literally a total “waste.” Such a person is not merely a “mooch” or an “idler” or anything of that sort. Instead, the person really has no redeeming qualities, quite like Henry in our description.

Example Question #291 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

After the earthquake had ceased, Megan wished she had paid heed to the __________ that she had that morning and had driven far away from town to avoid what she eerily suspected would happen that day.

Possible Answers:

vision

hunch

premonition

intuition

notion

Correct answer:

premonition

Explanation:

A “premonition” is a “pre-warning” or a sense of doom that occurs before something bad actually happens. This is better than even “intuition” or “hunch” because Megan clearly had a sense that something bad would happen. The “-monition” portion of the word comes form the Latin “monere,” meaning to warn, that is used in the word “admonish.”

Example Question #292 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

After much __________, the young computer programmer realized the answer to the algorithm problem that had absorbed his thought for many hours.

Possible Answers:

vexation

perplexity

frittering

cogitation

mystification

Correct answer:

cogitation

Explanation:

Although the programmer might have been perplexed, mystified, or vexed (or have frittered away time), we are not able to go beyond the literal sense of our sentence. All that we can say is that the problem had absorbed his thought many hours; therefore, we can say that he had to “cogitate” which means to think over something insistently. It is related to words like “cognition,” though it also literally could be taken to mean to turn over as in “to turn over and over in one’s mind.”

Example Question #293 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

Since Meredith could not be present at the town meeting, she sent her only son to be her __________ in the debates and votes.

Possible Answers:

inquisitor

intelligence

reconnaissance

source

proxy

Correct answer:

proxy

Explanation:

Someone who is a “proxy” is one who represents someone else at a meeting or an assembly. In the world of computers a “proxy server” is one that sits between computer A and computer B, allowing A to (potentially) spoof B into thinking that the traffic is coming from somewhere else. For example, if computer P is the proxy, instead of communicating A → B and B → A, the communication is A → P, P → B, B → P, and (finally) P → A. Here, P is acting in “proxy” between A and B (like Meredith’s son).

Example Question #294 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

When Charles became involved in an argument with his in-laws, he did not realize the complicated and endless __________ of family feuding that would become a regular part of his life.

Possible Answers:

war

quarrel

bickering

tussle

quagmire

Correct answer:

quagmire

Explanation:

Directly defined, a quagmire is a kind of bog that causes one to sink into its ground because of its softness. It is derived from the parts “quag” and “mire”—both words for bogs and marshes. In its extended sense, a quagmire is complex situation from which it is difficult to remove oneself. Here this meaning is indicated particularly by the adjective “complicated” as well as (to a lesser extend) “endless.”

Example Question #295 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

Some people grasp concepts with an immediate, intuitive flair, while others require much __________ to come to the same conclusions.

Possible Answers:

experimentation

research

testing

ratiocination

questioning

Correct answer:

ratiocination

Explanation:

The contrast communicated in this sentence is between those who understand things immediately while others must think about them quite a bit. Although such things might involve research, experiments, and the like, none of these are necessarily the case. (For instance, one could think over a math problem for some time, and none of the involved actions would fit any of those categories, strictly speaking). “Ratiocination” is a process of exact, reasoned thought, often implying a long train of necessary steps—i.e. proceeding in a non-intuitive (though valid) manner. The word is related to the word “rational” and other such “ratio-” words.

Example Question #296 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

Although some words like “principle,” “cause,” and so forth seem to have one single meaning, in reality they are susceptible to a number of differing __________.

Possible Answers:

articulations

modes

lexicons

words

expressions

Correct answer:

modes

Explanation:

All that is implied is that certain words (“principle,” “cause,” and so forth) can take on various shades. It is fare to say that these would be different “modes” of expressing the same words. The word is often used in the sense of (e.g.) “mode of transportation.” Even in this case, you can see how the word means “manner of transportation,” implying a “given particular ‘shading’ of the general notion of ‘transportation.’”

Example Question #297 : Sentence Completion Questions

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

Although a minor matters like new traffic laws and basic parking fines are handled solely by the representatives, it is necessary to hold a full __________ in order to alter the general charter of the city.

Possible Answers:

assembly

plebiscite

election

convention

convocation

Correct answer:

plebiscite

Explanation:

The word “plebs” in Latin means common people or general citizens. A “plebiscite” is a full body of the people, called together to vote on a matter. This word is the best choice here because the clear contrast is between a representative vote and one that is non-representational or direct. The word “plebian” means one of the lower classes (i.e. of the “general run” of people in a society).

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors