CRACKING THE
CODE
“It’s
ELEMENTARY!”
Mastering PSAT
Sentence Completions
SYNONYM SENTENCES
SIGNAL WORDS
AND
 ALSO
 ADDITIONALLY
 SINCE

MOREOVER
 AS WELL AS
 FURTHERMORE
 INDEED

1. Churchill urged an uncompromising
__________
and ______ attitude with Hitler, ____
rather
than the policy of appeasement
________
advocated by Neville Chamberlain.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
FLEXIBLE
RESOLUTE
DESPERATE
DOCILE
OBEDIENT
2. Outgoing
____ and ________ by nature, Ursula
became even
more gregarious at the
___________
company party.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
AFFABLE
RECULSIVE
SOLITARY
BELLIGERENT
DECEPTIVE
Avoid cliché & idiom
Free Associate





Black and …
Up and …
Rock and…
Each and …
Peanut butter
and…





WHITE!
DOWN!
ROLL!
EVERY!
JELLY!
ETS knows what you EXPECT…
So they DO the UNEXPECTED!!!
EASY: 3. Flying in the face of
_________, the writer George Sand
shocked her contemporaries by taking
lovers and by wearing men’s clothes.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
IDIOM: flying
IMMODESTY
RECONCILIATION in the face of
convention
EMANCIPATION
(popular
opinion)
CONVENTION
MODERNISM
HARD: 4. Like a_____
charlatan, Harry tried to
_________ the audience with ________
evidence.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
confuse…cogent
persuade…incontrovertible
dupe…spurious
IDIOMS:
educate…devious
…Incontrovertible
evidence
enthrall…substantiated
…A preponderance of
evidence
MATH TACTICS
for Critical Reading: Verbal Values
+ PLUS
- MINUS
0 NEUTRAL
o
______________________
5. The critic
liked nothing about
the movie; she called the plot
(-)
(-)
____ and the acting _____.
(-,-)
-,+
-,+
+,+
+,-,-
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
DREARY…INSPIRING
TRITE…DAZZLING
EXHILARATING…ENTHRALLING
STIRRING…UNPROFESSIONAL
TEDIOUS…AMATEURISH
6. No one is neutral about Pres. Bush; he
inspires either uncritical _____ from his
supporters or profound _____ from his
opponents.
(+,-)
+,- (A)
+,+ (B)
-,- (C)
-,+ (D)
-,- (E)
ADULATION…OPPROBRIUM
ENTHUSIASM…EXUBERANCE
APATHY…REVULSION
CONDEMNATION…VENERATION
DISGUST…AVERSION
7. In temperament they were radically
different: the older man was quiet and ____;
the younger was _______ and uninhibited.
(+,-)
+,-,+
-,-,-,-
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
RESERVED…RAUCOUS
ALOOF…RESTRAINED
HARSH…RESTLESS
TACITURN…LACONIC
AGITATED…NOISY
8. Although the novel was bold and _____,
the movie disappointed many viewers who
thought it was _________and bland..
(+, 0 /-)
-,+
+,+
0,+/+/0,-/0,+
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
OBSOLETE…CAPTIVATING
DISTINCTIVE…UNIQUE
ROUTINE…MUNDANE
INNOVATIVE…CONVENTIONAL
INSIPID…SCINTILLATING
Challenging
VOCABULARY
Complex
SENTENCE
structure
TOUGH NUTS! (Level 5)
SENTENCE COMPLETIONS
123–456–789
EASY…MEDIUM…HARD
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
COGENT…PERFUNCTORY
PUISSANT…POIGNANT
TRACTABLE…AIMABLE
HEGEMONIC…MERCURIAL
MUNDANE…TRENCHANT
The phenomenon is called viral _____
because the presence of one kind of
virus seems to inhibit infection by any
other.
PROLIFERATION
(B) MUTATION
(C) INTERFERENCE
(D) EPIDEMIC
(E) COOPERATION
(A)
What happens to J.A.S. on Level
5 questions
An apparently ______
gratuitous gesture, whether it
is spiteful or solicitous, arouses
suspicion,
___________
while a gesture recognized to be
____________ gives no reason for surprise.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
WARRANTED
DUBIOUS
AFFECTED
BENEVOLENT
RANCOROUS
The novelist brings out the _______________
of human beings __________
time and time again by
__________________their lives to the
permanence
______ of the vast landscape.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ABSURDITY…RELATING
TRANSIENCE…LIKENING
EVANESCENCE…CONTRASTING
COMPLEXITY…COMPARING
UNIQUENESS…OPPOSING
Ruskin’s vitriolic attack was the climax of
the _____ he heaped upon paintings that
today seem amazingly _______
(-, 0 /+)
-,-,0
+,0/-,+,+
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
CRITICISM…UNPOPULAR
RIDICULE…INOFFENSIVE
PRAISE…AMATEURISH
INDIFFERENCE…SCANDALOUS
ACCLAIM…CREDITABLE
The history of science is replete with
examples of bold new theories that were
_____ when they first appeared but were
subsequently ____ by future researchers.
(-, +) or (+,-)
+,+
-,-,-,+
+,+
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
CORROBORATED…VERIFIED
ASSAILED…DERIDED
BOYCOTTED…REPUDIATED
VILIFIED…SUBSTANTIATED
LAUDED…REVERED
Like a true _______
iconoclast, Ann was a/an _____
who _____ conventional
________ styles of
management.
KEY ?: Synonyms or antonyms?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
NONCONFORMIST…SPURNED
MISCREANT…EMBRACED
AN AESTHETE..ENCOURAGED
A LOAFER…ENFORCED
DISSENTER…ADVOCATED
Always know where you are!
MIDDLE = MEDIUM
difficulty
Rule #1:
EASY
QUESTIONS
Have
EASY
ANSWERS!
Rule #2:
HARD
QUESTIONS
Have
HARD
ANSWERS!
Remember:
Pace Yourself!
S.C.’s = easiest points
on the PSAT, so…
NAIL THEM ALL!