SAT Critical Reading : One-Blank Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Critical Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #1704 : Psat Critical Reading

When Patrick committed any small social faux pas, his mother would overreact and be utterly __________ by his actions.

Possible Answers:

enervated

angered

depressed

mortified

dispirited

Correct answer:

mortified

Explanation:

A “faux pas” is a social “false step,” an embarrassing action. The sense of the sentence is that Patrick’s mother was utterly embarrassed by his actions. The other options imply more than is justified by the expression “faux pas.” When someone is “mortified,” he or she is embarrassed, often in a strong sense. The word literally means “to make dead,” hear as though the actions would “embarrass to death.” The “mort-” portion of the word is related to the Latin for “death” and is found in English words like “mortal,” “immortal,” and “morgue.”

Example Question #1705 : Psat Critical Reading

Selena was not merely happy to finish the project at last; she was quite __________ about its completion.

Possible Answers:

elated

peaceful

satisfied

content

eased

Correct answer:

elated

Explanation:

This sentence implies an intensification from the first independent clause to the second by using the words “not merely.” The word being intensified is “happy.” To say that Selena is “very happy,” the best option is “elated.” This word is derived from the Latin for meaning “carried out of.” When someone is elated, he or she is so emotional that he or she is “carried out of himself or herself.” Another way that it is expressed is to say that such a person is “ecstatically happy,” which also means “happy in the sense of ‘standing outside of oneself.’” Sometimes, you might here older people say, “He was beside himself with joy.” This expresses the same sense.

Example Question #1706 : Psat Critical Reading

The whole affair was so __________ that Daria could not take it seriously at all.

Possible Answers:

unprofessional

unbeknownst

depressing

ludicrous

quizzical

Correct answer:

ludicrous

Explanation:

The key expression in this sentence is “not take it seriously at all.” Since the affair is said not to be taken seriously “at all,” it must be a rather laughable affair or at least one that is very inconsequential (to Daria, at least). When something is “ludicrous,” it is a “laughable” matter. While we cannot say for certain that the affair was ridiculous or laughable, still this kind of “lack of gravity” is implied by the aforementioned “not . . . at all.” This is far better than “depressing” or the other (even worse) options. The word “ludicrous,” actually comes from the Latin for “game,” so a ludicrous affair could be said to be “just a game” (at least in the eye of the beholder).

Example Question #1701 : Psat Critical Reading

Lauren found Samuel’s remarks to be extremely ___________, making the topic much more understandable.

Possible Answers:

intellectual

pedantic

scholarly

academic

illuminating

Correct answer:

illuminating

Explanation:

All of the wrong options are those that most directly pertain to education, academia, or the intellect. The key thing to note is that the remarks make the topic understandable. When one thing helps to make another understandable, that first thing is said to “illuminate” the other. The sense of the word is taken from the metaphorical image of shining a light on a dark (obscure) subject matter.

Example Question #782 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

George acted as though he were __________, though his friends knew that he was a human like anyone else, making many mistakes daily.

Possible Answers:

celestial

infallible

god-like

theological

grandiose

Correct answer:

infallible

Explanation:

The key word in this sentence is “mistakes.” The only contrast being implied is that George did not seem to think that he could make mistakes (though his friends knew better). When someone is “infallible” that person does not make mistakes. The word “fallible” means “capable of making mistakes” and is related to “false” as well as “fallacy” and “fallacious.” The “in-” functions here as a negative, making “in-fallible” to mean “not-fallible.”

Example Question #783 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Since Nathanael had little time, he planned his schedule very __________ in order to avoid wasting even the slightest moment.

Possible Answers:

insightfully

carefully

efficiently

reflectively

amazingly

Correct answer:

efficiently

Explanation:

The only thing that we can say about Nathanael is that he is avoiding any waste of time. Any other description might hold (that it is amazing, insightfully done, etc), but that goes beyond what we are given. The best answer is “efficiently,” which describes someone who is very productive while using the least amount of resources (money, time, etc).

Example Question #752 : One Blank Sentences

When teaching her students how to draw graphs, the first thing that the teacher emphasized was that the X axis and Y axis had to be __________ with each other, crossing at a right angle usually found at the bottom left of a graph.

Possible Answers:

disproportionate

mixed up

perpendicular

parallel

beside

Correct answer:

perpendicular

Explanation:

The teacher explains that the axes of a graph "[cross] at a right angle," so we need to pick out an adjective that describes the relationship between two lines that do exactly that. "Parallel" cannot be the correct answer, then, because "parallel," when used of lines, planes, surfaces, or objects, means " side by side and having the same distance continuously between them," so "parallel" is the antonym of the word we're looking for. "Perpendicular," an adjective which means "at an angle of 90° to a given line, plane, or surface," best describes the orientation of the two lines, so "perpendicular" is the correct answer.

Example Question #753 : One Blank Sentences

The book includes long footnotes that serve as a place for _________ information like tangents, recommended reading, and notes on the work's historical context, none of which are absolutely necessary to the text itself.

Possible Answers:

winding

pardonable

joyful

ancillary

crucial

Correct answer:

ancillary

Explanation:

We can infer that because the footnotes allow room for various types of information of which "none . . . are absolutely necessary to the text itself," we can infer that we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "extraneous" or "extra." "Crucial," then, cannot be the correct answer, because "crucial" is an antonym of "extraneous" and "extra." "Ancillary," however, is an adjective that can mean " additional; subsidiary," and because it best describes the nature of the information the book's footnotes contain, "ancillary" is the correct answer.

Example Question #754 : One Blank Sentences

The __________ knitter predicted the fashion trend toward homemade goods and started an online store, making a lot of money selling the scarves, hats, and mittens that she made.

Possible Answers:

wholesome

undiscerning

portable

minute

astute

Correct answer:

astute

Explanation:

For this sentence, we can infer that the knitter must have been pretty smart to "[predict] the fashion trend toward homemade goods." So, we need to pick out an adjective to describe the knitter that means something like "smart." "Undiscerning," then, cannot be the correct answer, because "undiscerning" means "lacking judgment, insight, or taste," making it the opposite of the word for which we're looking. "Astute," however, is an adjective that means "having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage," and because "astute" best describes the knitter's profitable assessment of the fashion trend, "astute" is the correct answer.

Example Question #791 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Select the answer choice that best completes the blank in the sentence.

It typically takes years of __________ practicing in order to become a virtuoso piano player.

Possible Answers:

animated

anomalous

assiduous

austere

astringent

Correct answer:

assiduous

Explanation:

The choice that makes the most sense is assiduous: showing great care and perseverance; diligent.

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