All SAT Critical Reading Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #431 : One Blank Sentences
The aspiring politican __________ the past presidents and tried to read as much about them as possible in order to follow in their footsteps.
vindicated
discredited
disdained
emulated
revered
emulated
Since the aspiring politician wants to follow in the presidents' footsteps, the best choice is "emulate," as this means to match or surpass a person, typically by imitation.
Example Question #11 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
They tried pocket dictionaries, pointing, and drawing pictures, but they eventually gave up, realizing that they were not going to __________ the language barrier that easily.
vanquish
ameliorate
assuage
prosecute
surmount
surmount
Looking at the blank, we can tell that we need a word that means something like “overcome.” The best answer, therefore, is “surmount.” “Vanquish” is similar, but it is usually used in the sense of defeating an enemy rather than overcoming an obstacle.
Example Question #12 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
The doctors and policeman __________ to solve the case and serve justice to the kidnapper.
imputed
submitted
reconciled
collaborated
compromised
collaborated
Because two different professions are coming together to solve, the best choice is "collaborated," which means to work together.
Example Question #561 : One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The changes in routine __________ the old man, who could otherwise remain calm as long as his regimen remained unaltered.
submerged
perturbed
incensed
inundated
enraged
perturbed
The wrong answers to this sentence fall into two classes. On the one hand, “enraged” and “incensed” imply extreme anger, which are not justified by the sentence, which describes the old man as relatively calm in normal conditions. These options are distant contenders at best. On the other hand, “submerged” and “inundated” imply that he was overwhelmed. While that might be the case, the sentence clearly has to deal with his emotional / mental state since it speaks of him remaining calm in most situations; therefore the best option is “perturbed” which means “anxious” or “upset,” a good description for being “not calm.”
Example Question #14 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
The moon was full about a week ago, but it has __________ since then, and looks like a thin crescent tonight.
belittled
coddled
waned
debilitated
groveled
waned
We know that the moon was full a week ago, but is now a smaller crescent, so it has gotten smaller in the past week. We need a verb that means to appear to get smaller. While "belittled" sounds like a good option, "belittle" has nothing to do with physical size and means to make (someone or something) seem unimportant. Because "wane" means to have a progressively smaller amount of an object's surface illuminated so that it appears to decrease in size, it is the best answer choice.
Example Question #562 : Sentence Completion
Kendra wrung out the sponge into the sink, __________ it to release all the water it held.
abdicating
nullifying
compressing
squandering
whittling
compressing
We can tell by the context of the sentence that we're looking for a verb that means something like "make smaller," and more specifically, "wring out." While "whittling" sounds like it could be a potential answer because things that are whittled usually get smaller in the process, "whittling" actually means "carving wood into an object by repeatedly cutting small slices from it," so it's not the correct word for the sentence's context. Since "compress" means "flatten by pressure; squeeze; press," it is the best answer.
Example Question #562 : Sentence Completion
Each sentence completion question is made up of a sentence with one or two blanks. One blank indicates that one word is missing. Two blanks indicate that two words are missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word or pair of words that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
After Sarah edited her paper, Jessica brought her out to ice cream in order to _____ her for using her free time to edit.
encourage
compensate
please
indulge
belittle
compensate
In this situation, Jessica is indebted to Sarah for editing her paper even though it was not required for Sarah to edit it. Therefore, Jessica compensated her by bringing her out to ice cream as a thank you for doing her the favor of editing.
Example Question #32 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
Tom's sister wished she could __________ the hurtful comments she directed towards Tom earlier in the day that were merely said due to her disagreeable mood.
fortify
rescind
recall
uphold
dismantle
rescind
Tom's sister wants to erase the comments of the morning or revoke them. In other words, she wants to rescind her comments.
Example Question #11 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
After moving into the new town, it took Scott some time to become __________ to the aspects of daily life that differed greatly from that which he knew in his previous locale.
accepting
understanding
accustomed
reflective
nativist
accustomed
The sentence implies that Scott had to become aware and comfortable with new aspects of life in his town, for they differed from what he had known. Such a process of becoming comfortable with something new is called “becoming accustomed.” Notice that the word contains the word “custom,” and the “ac” is really the “ad” prefix meaning “to or toward.” Therefore, the process of “accustoming” is (in a sense) “structuring oneself ‘to the customs’ of a given area or process.”
Example Question #12 : Verbs In One Blank Sentences
Travis assured his friends that he __________ to goals that were far loftier than what his little town could offer to him.
imagined
studied
aspired
espied
looked
aspired
The implication here is that Travis “aims” at high goals. Therefore, one could say that he hopes to accomplish these tasks. Such hopes are often called “aspirations,” a word coming from the Latin for “to breathe toward.” There are English words like “despair,” that mean “without hope” but are based on a different (but very close) Latin word meaning hope. The word for “I breathe” is “spiro” and the word for “I hope” is “spero.” Latin students often learn the shortened quip, “Dum spiro, spero,” meaning, “While I breathe, I hope.”