PSAT REVIEW
Most Frequently Missed Questions
Critical Reading
O Skill Category: Determining the Meaning of
Words
Use vocabulary skills, context, roots, prefixes,
and suffixes to determine the meaning of
words.
The Scientists presentation was ________: they
misstated, misinterpreted, and thoroughly
misunderstood all aspects of the subject.
A. irresolute
B. mundane
C. equivocal
D. deplorable
E. superficial
D.
deplorable
The themes of the painter’s work were largely
______, showing little drama or imaginative flair.
A. esoteric
B. quixotic
C. bombastic
D. pedestrian
E. ephemeral
D.
pedestrian
Writing Skills
O Skill Category: Manage Word Choice and
Grammatical Relationships Between Words
Understand relationships between and among
words including subject-verb agreement,
pronoun reference, and verb form and tense.
Archeologists have determined that the city was
destroyed sometime in the eleventh century,
resulting either from a war or a natural disaster.
A. century, resulting either from
B. century, either resulting from
C. century, which either resulted from
D. century either as a result of
E. century as the result of either
E.
century as the result of
either
The Caesar salad was named not for the Roman
emperor Julius Caesar, as many people assume, it is
named for the restaurant owner Caesar Cardini.
A. it is named
B. it was named
C. but it was named
D. it was named
E. but
E.
but
The security office recommends that, when asked
to provide a computer password, do not use any
string of letters that can be found in a dictionary.
A. do not choose
B. not to choose
C. not choosing
D. you not choose
E. your choice should be
D.
you not choose
Born in London to Bengali parents and raised in Rhode
Island, Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction explored cultural
conflicts that often arise for those who emigrate from
India to the United States.
A. Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction explores
B. Jhumpa Lahiri, whose fiction explores
C. Jhumpa Lahiri explores in her fiction
D. in whose fiction, Jhumpa Lahiri explores
E. the fiction of Jhumpa Lahiri explores
C.
Jhumpa Lahiri explores
in her fiction
Writing Skills
O Skill Category: Manage Grammatical
Structures Used to Modify or Compare
Understand correct use of adjectives or
adverbs, comparative structures (such as
neither and nor), and phrases used to modify
or compare.
Select the one underlined part of the sentence
that must be changed to make the sentence
correct, or select "No error" to indicate that the
sentence contains no error.
(a.) As young men, Orville Wright worked (b.)
alongside his older brother Wilbur, (c.) first in a
printing business and later in a bicycle shop,
which (d.) soon became the site of
aeronautical experiments. (e.) no error
A.
As young men, Orville
Wright worked
The Pirahã people of Brazil (a) communicate
almost as much by singing, whistling, (b) and
humming (c) than they (d) do by pronouncing
consonants and vowels. (e) No error
C.
than they
(a) Since the age of eighteen, Yuan-tsung Chen
left Beijing (b) for the countryside (c) to
participate in land reform efforts; her novel,
The Dragon’s Village , is (d) based on her
experiences there. (e) No error
A.
Since the age of
eighteen, Yuan-tsung
Chen left Beijing
Had the sound of children playing not (a)
awakened him when (b) they did , he would (c)
in all probability (d) have missed his plane. (e)
No error
B.
they did , he would
Organs (a) located in the tail of the electric eel
(b) enables the animal (c) to produce
electricity, which it uses (d) in hunting prey. (e)
No error
B.
enables the animal
When governments intervene (a) on behalf of
favored businesses, (b) give subsidies to
corporations, (c) or supposedly businessfriendly policies, (d) it violates the principle of
free market competition. (e) No error
D.
it violates the principle
of free market
competition.
(a) That the thieves (b) were unable to sell the
sculptures they (c) had smuggled out of Sicily
suggests that the market for stolen antiquities
(d) has shrunk . (e) No error
E.
No error