CRACKING THE
CODE
“It’s
ELEMENTARY!”
Mastering PSAT
Sentence Completions
DEFINITION
 SUPPORT
 CONTRAST
 CAUSE & EFFECT

DEFINITIONAL
SENTENCES
1. These criticisms are ______ and are not
directed against anyone in particular.
_____________________
SPECIFIC
(B) __
IMPERSONAL
(C) __
INACCURATE
(D) COWARDLY
(E) CRAFTY
(A)
The MIGHTY Prefix
2. Studying to become a doctor can be
____, in that it often requires long
hours of
_______
hard work.
_______
ARDUOUS
(B) EFFORTLESS
(C) IRREGULAR
(D) ELUSIVE
(E) EXTRAVAGANT
(A)
3. The Southern Stingray is _________
animal that generally ___________
avoids humans as
much as possible
___________
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
A GREGARIOUS
A DANGEROUS
A NOCTURNAL
AN APATHETIC
A SHY
4. Prehistoric hunters worked ________;
they helped
one another capture
___________
mammoths and other big game animals.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
GARRULOUSLY
QUICKLY
COOPERATIVELY
CLANDESTINELY
PASSIVELY
5. Lauren is a ___________________
person, who has always been _____
willing to
__ those in need.
help
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ALTRUISTIC
ARTICULATE
ATTRACTIVE
SUPERCILIOUS
SELFISH
6. The queen and her more __________
counselors wished
to avoid the war.
____________
BELLIGERENT
(B) RECKLESS
(C) AGGRESSIVE
(D) PACIFIST
(E) VERBOSE
(A)
8. The philanthropist refused
to identify his
___________
name
___ and thus remained ________.
PLIANT
Take out
(B)
theNOTORIOUS
VERBAL
(C) BOISTEROUS
(D) OBLIVIOUS
(E) ANONYMOUS
(A)
Tip #4:
It’s like Kudzu!
SC’s test VERBAL INFERENCE
SKILLS:
As a part of our game, we ran twice around
the cregiendo until we became so
trependant that we collapsed on the porch.
1. A cregiendo is about as big as a
(A)
spider (B) pillow (C) car (D) house (E) village
2.Can a cregiendo be trependant?
Far from being an arnacular pastime,
numismatics, or the study of currency
currency, can
purnade our appreciation of the history and
economic development of the nation.
Arnacular is a/an:






Verb
Noun
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Pronoun
Can a person be
arnacular?
Far from being an arnacular pastime,
numismatics, or the study of currency, can
purnade our appreciation of the history and
economic development of the nation.
Arnacular most nearly
means






invalid
obsessive
aimless
interesting
foreign
dangerous
Purnade is a/an:






verb
noun
adjective
adverb
preposition
pronoun
Far from being an arnacular pastime,
numismatics, or the study of currency, can
purnade our appreciation of the history and
economic development of the nation.
Is purnading our
appreciation of
something probably
a good thing or a
bad thing?
Purnade most
nearly means:






undermine
complicate
heighten
clarify
ignore
adore
SUPPORT!
1. The team was ______ so it was
_______with cheers from its fans.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
UNDISCIPLINED…REGALED
DEFEATED…PLAGUED
FAMOUS…EBULLIENT
VICTORIOUS…REWARDED
ECSTATIC…CHALLENGED
2. Some criminal investigators believe that
polygraphs will reliably detect deception by
recording__________
difficult to observe reactions such
as _______________ changes in breathing
rate or perspiration rate elicited by a set of
questions. (A) MARKED
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
HEIGHTENED
SIGNIFICANT
UNDETECTABLE
SLIGHT Polygraph = a lie
DETECTOR
3. The building should be ______ not
only for
its long recognized architectural
_______________________
merit
___ but also for its _____ in the history
of Black American theater.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
DESIGNED…ROLE
COMMISSIONED…USEFULNESS
PRESERVED…IMPORTANCE
DEMOLISHED…FUTURE
CONSTRUCTED…PLACE