All SAT Critical Reading Resources
Example Questions
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.
infuriated
surprised
quizzical
perplexed
disturbed
infuriated
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.
studying
censoring
reading
perusing
reviewing
censoring
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.
stagnate
erode
clot
sicken
nauseate
stagnate
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.
eradicate
enforce
compromise
remedy
improve
compromise
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.
extol
aggrandize
distend
ameliorate
amalgamate
ameliorate
"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 #441 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences
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.
foster
divert
alter
cloister
expand
divert
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.
imagine
imitate
counsel
prolong
deplore
prolong
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.
recall
inflame
articulate
enunciate
state
inflame
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.”
Example Question #531 : One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
After years of assuming the jobs of many of his subordinates, Scott learned how to __________ work to those under him, enabling himself to manage the entire process instead of being overwhelmed with all the details of others’ work.
germinate
allocate
assign
delegate
sow
delegate
Although “assign” and “allocate” are applicable to this sentence, the word “delegate” is a closer fit because it includes the sense of “handing down” something to a subordinate to do something. The word literally means to hand (-leg-) down (de-). If someone is called a “delegate,” he or she has been given some task in order to represent the one doing the handing down.
Example Question #541 : One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
There was nothing that angered Michael more than when others would __________ true knowledge when they were in fact totally ignorant on a given subject.
pronounce
present
pontificate
feign
imagine
feign
Although “feign” directly indicates that one is pretending to be affected by something (e.g. emotionally or physically), in a more extended sense, it can mean to imitate, often with deceptive motives. It is derived from root words that are related to “fiction.” The Latin root is expressed in Newton’s famous expression, “Hypotheses non fingo”—I feign no hypotheses. Given its context, this expression was taken as the manifesto for sciences based on description of phenomena (and their mathematical interpretation), not upon seemingly “feigned” metaphysical hypotheses.