SAT Critical Reading : Sentence Completion Questions
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Critical Reading
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Example Questions
Example Question #21 : Sat Critical Reading
The clerk looked down her nose at the paper in such a __________ manner that I snatched it back, embarrassed.
genial
supercilious
gracious
convivial
deferential
supercilious
The blank in this sentence calls for a negative adjective describing the behavior of the clerk. “Gracious,” “genial,” and “convivial” are all positive adjectives, and looking “deferential” (meaning respectful) would not make someone embarrassed. The correct answer is “supercilious,” meaning arrogant or haughty.
Example Question #22 : Sat Critical Reading
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Eliza could get a perfect score on the SAT, but she is far too __________ to work for it every day.
miserly
complacent
pretentious
perfidious
expressive
complacent
From the context of the sentence you know that the blank word must relate to some deficiency in Eliza’s character that causes her not to work as hard as she ought to. This reveals that the correct answer is “complacent” which means self-satisfied, lazy and lacking ambition. Perfidious means disloyal; pretentious means showy and conceited; miserly means not generous.
Example Question #23 : Sat Critical Reading
The following passage is adapted from “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published 1892.
It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.
A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate!
Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.
Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?
John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.
John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.
John is a physician, and PERHAPS—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)—PERHAPS that is one reason I do not get well faster.
You see he does not believe I am sick!
And what can one do?
If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?
My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to "work" until I am well again.
Personally, I disagree with their ideas.
Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
But what is one to do?
I did write for a while in spite of them; but it DOES exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition.
I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.
As used in the last paragraph, “society” most nearly means __________.
an organization or club
being in the company of others
excitement
an ordered community
the influential people within a community
being in the company of others
In this case, the word "society" is used very generally to mean the situation of being in the company of others. This situation, presumably, would provide entertainment and stimulus. She does not speak specifically about a specific organization, she does not seem concerned about influential people (high-society), and she is not talking about the ordered community in which we live.
Example Question #23 : Sat Critical Reading
The effects of the deleterious allele could be seen in the population, where individuals with the allele all died before the age of thirty.
In the context of the sentence, the word "deleterious" most nearly means __________.
fortuitous
deadly
inevitable
adverse
impute
adverse
"Deleterious" means harmful to living things. "Adverse," meaning harmful, is the best answer. "Deadly" would not be correct because something can be harmful without being deadly. In this example, the allele was deadly, however, the question asks about the specific word "deleterious," which does not mean deadly.
Example Question #21 : Sentence Completion Questions
Skimming over the boring passages, the book still took me the better part of a month to finish.
Skimming over the boring passages, I still took the better part of a month to finish the book.
Skimming over the boring passages, the book still took me the better part of a month to finish. (No change)
Skimming over the boring passages, the book was still finished in the better part of a month.
Skimming over the boring passages, I still finished the book taking the better part of a month.
Skimming over the boring passages, it still took me the better part of a month to finish the book.
Skimming over the boring passages, I still took the better part of a month to finish the book.
The original sentence had a dangling modifier. The phrase “skimming over the boring passages” should be adjacent to the person who is doing the skimming: “I.” In the other option that correctly puts “I” as the subject, the “taking” phrase at the end is awkwardly phrased.
Example Question #25 : Sat Critical Reading
At the crack of dawn, the man in the beige overcoat who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch finally gave up and went to bed.
At the crack of dawn, the man in the beige overcoat, the one who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch, finally gave up and went to bed.
The man in the beige overcoat, the one who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch, finally gave up and went to bed at the crack of dawn.
At the crack of dawn, the man finally gave up and went to bed. He was wearing a beige overcoat and had sat by the door all night long keeping watch.
At the crack of dawn, the man in the beige overcoat who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch finally gave up and went to bed. (No change)
The man in the beige overcoat, the one who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch, at the crack of dawn, finally gave up and went to bed.
The man in the beige overcoat, the one who had sat by the door all night long keeping watch, finally gave up and went to bed at the crack of dawn.
The original sentence is a string of modifiers, and the adverbial phrase “at the crack of dawn” is at the other side of the sentence from the verb it modifies. The reader gets lost in the information in the middle. The correct answer not only breaks up the information a little bit, but it also brings the adverbial phrase closer to its verb.
Example Question #26 : Sat Critical Reading
The slowly disappearing sun turned the sky an array of colors before the sun finally was gone.
The slowly disappearing sun, before finally going, turned the sky an array of colors.
The slowly disappearing sun turned the sky an array of colors before it was finally gone.
The slowly disappearing sun, before the sun was finally gone, turned the sky an array of colors.
The slowly disappearing sun turned the sky an array of colors; the sun was finally gone.
The slowly disappearing sun turned the sky an array of colors before the sun finally was gone.
The slowly disappearing sun turned the sky an array of colors before it was finally gone.
This sentence had a problem with redundancy. The second “the sun” was not necessary and could be replaced with a pronoun. Shifting around the “before” phrase does not help the sentence read more smoothly.
Example Question #27 : Sat Critical Reading
Which of the underlined words in this sentence is improperly used?
Due to our conflicting personalities, it is sometimes difficult for he and me to reach an agreement.
No error
conflicting
me
reach
he
he
In English grammar, objective case requires this sentence to read “him and me.” “he” is subjective case, as in “He gave me the flowers.”
Example Question #45 : Sat Critical Reading
The author never described the physical appearance of the main character, but she went into great detail about the perceptions of the other characters that he formed.
The author never described the physical appearance of the main character, going into great detail about the perceptions of the other characters that he formed.
The author never described the main character’s physical appearance, but she went into great detail about his perceptions of the other characters.
The author never described the physical appearance of the main character, but she went into great detail about the perceptions of the other characters that he formed. (No change)
The author never described the main character’s physical appearance, going into great detail about his perceptions of the other characters.
The author never described his physical appearance, but she went into great detail about the perceptions of the other characters that the main character formed.
The author never described the main character’s physical appearance, but she went into great detail about his perceptions of the other characters.
The correct sentence is more concise: it rewords the sentence to be more straightforward and less clunky. It maintains, however, the transition “but” which clues the reader in to the logic of the sentence.
Example Question #41 : Sat Critical Reading
Many people find it absurd that water, a natural resource that falls from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers.
Many people found it absurd that water, a natural resource that falls from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers.
It is found to be absurd that water, a natural resource that falls from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers.
Many people have found it to be absurd, but nevertheless water, a natural resource falling from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers.
Many people have found it to be absurd that a natural resource falling from the sky, water, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers.
Many people find it absurd that water, a natural resource that falls from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers. (No change)
Many people find it absurd that water, a natural resource that falls from the sky, has been bottled, packaged, and sold at incredibly marked-up prices to millions of eager consumers. (No change)
The original sentence was well-written. The alternatives given here either change it to be passive, expand it needlessly, or mess with the timeline of the verb tenses.
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