Sentence Addition / Insertion Questions
Addition / Insertion ask you to place a sentence in one of four positions within a paragraph of
paragraphs. Each position is marked with a black square. When you click on the square, the new
sentence appears in that position so that you can verify whether it makes sense in the context.
Summary Chart
Number per Passage
1-2
Key Information
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Sample Questions
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This question asks where a specific sentence would best fit
within a paragraph or paragraphs.
Look at the squares that indicate where the following sentence
could be added to the passage.
[Sentence X]
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the
sentence to the passage
How to Respond
1. Read: Read the new sentence and try to understand its meaning.
2. Look for clues in the new sentence: Look for connecting
words like reference words and transitions. Look for content clues
like, synonyms, rephrased ideas, and repeated key words at the
beginning or end of the new sentence.
3. Look for the clues near black squares: look for these same
types of clues (connecting words and content clues) in the context
before and after each black square. Do you see any connections?
4. Try best solution: Try the sentence in the location where you
think it would best fit. Does it logically connect to the sentences
both before and after it?
5. Double-Check: just to be absolutely certain, click on each square
and try the new sentence in all positions. Where does it fit?
Incorrect Answers
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Do not logically connect to the sentence that comes before and
after.
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Separate logically connected sentences.
Employ an illogical use of transitions.
Separate a logically connected reference word or referent.
Language for Addition / Insertion
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Signal words
Scientist have many theories about why the Ice Ages took place. However, none of these
theories can fully explain why ice sheets formed at certain periods and not at others.
Contrast
Stone tools are more durable than bones. Therefore, the tools of early humans are found
more frequently than the bones of their makers. Conclusion
African art first came to the attention of Europeans around 1905 when critics and artists
recognized the dynamic qualities of African sculpture. Furthermore, some of the top
European artists of the time, such as Picasso and Modigliani, used African art as
inspiration for their own work. Addition
If we watch a cell divide under a microscope, what do we see? First, the nucleus of the
cell begins to look different. The dense material then thins out in the middle. Finally, a
new cell wall forms between the nuclei. The cell has divided. Sequence
When people look at cloud formation, they have a tendency to see imaginary shapes. For
example, they may see faces, animals, maps, household objects, boats, or fairyland
figures. Similarly, when people view inkblots on a piece of paper, they may see
meaningful shapes. Psychologists have long thought that people’s responses when they
are asked to explain what they see in the set of inkblots reveal a lot about people’s
personalities. This concept is the basis for the Rorschach inkblot test, which first
appeared in 1921.
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Personal Pronouns
Blood travels through the great arteries. It then passes into smaller arteries until
reaching the capillaries. They join to form veins, which carry the blood back to the
heart.
IT in 2nd refers to referent BLOOD in the 1st.
THEY in the 3rd refers to CAPILLARIES in the 2nd.
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Demonstratives
A number of methods of improving worker motivation and performance were
developed in the 1970’s. One of these was called Management by Objectives
(MBO). This technique links the third sentence with the second by referring back to the
phrase Management by Objectives.
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Synonyms
The earliest remains of ancient animals are those of soft-bodied jellyfish-like animals.
Worms, and proto-insects. The fossils of these creatures show us that, while some
animals remained simple, others were becoming increasingly complex.
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Repetition of Words
Hydrilla is an invasive plant imported to Florida from Sri Lanka some fifty years ago to
be used as a decorative plant in home aquariums. Hydrilla has overgrown more that 40%
of the state’s rivers and lakes, making life miserable for boaters and often impossible for
native wildlife.
Samples
Sample 1
They may be blown off course by storms or may be escaping population pressures in
their home areas.
The third type of natural pathway is called a sweepstakes route. This is dispersal caused by the
chance combination of favorable conditions. Bird watchers are familiar with “accidentals,”
which are birds that appear in places far from their native areas.
Sometimes, they may find a
habitat with favorable conditions and “colonize” it. Gardeners are familiar with ‘volunteers,”
cultivated plants that grow in their gardens although they never planted the seeds for these plants.
Besides birds and plants, insects, fish, and mammals also colonize new areas. Sweepstake
routes are unlike either corridors or filter routes in that organisms that travel these routes would
not be able to spend their entire lives in the habitats that they pass through.
Language Clues:
The personal pronouns THEY and THEIR link this sentence to the
referent “accidentals” in the second sentence.
Content Clue:
The new sentence explains how the “accidentals” can appear in places far
from their native areas. You may have thought that THEY and THEIR in
the missing sentence refers to “volunteers,” but this is not logical. The
seeds of plants cannot be blown “off course” because plants do not have a
“course” (a chosen direction). They blow wherever the wind takes them.
Plants also cannot choose to escape population pressures.
Answer:
Choose the second black square