SAT Prep- Sentence
Completion Strategies
Two-Blank Sentence Completions
• In two-blank sentence completions, the relationships between the
words will relate to each other in three ways:
• Definition
• Contrast
• Cause and Effect (both make sense in the context of the sentence)
• * Note: Both words must fit in the sentence. If one word fits and the
other doesn’t, the answer is wrong.
Four Steps to Test Day Success:
• 1. Read the sentence for clue words
• 2. Predict the answer
• 3. Select the best match
• 4. Plug your answer choice back into the sentence
Let’s Practice:
Step 1: Read the Sentence for Clue Words
• Read the sentence.
• Think about the sentence for five seconds.
• Take special note of clue words.
• A clue word like but tells you to expect a contrast in the next part of
the sentence
• A clue word like moreover tells you that what follows is a continuation
of the same idea
• Clue words such as and, but, such as, however, and although tell you
how the parts of the sentence will relate to each other.
• *Note- and is a clue for a definition. But is a keyword for contrast.
What are the clues in the practice sentence?
• The king’s --- decisions as a diplomat and administrator led to his
legendary reputation as a just and --- ruler.
Step 2: Predict the Answer
• Decide what sort of word should fill the blank or blanks.
• Do this before looking at the answer choices.
• You don’t have to guess the exact word; a rough idea of the kind of
word you’ll need will do.
• It is often enough to just determine if the word is positive or negative.
• In our practice response, the word and lets the test taker know that
the second blank must be similar to the word just.
Step 2: continued…
• Now we need to figure out what just means.
• If you were unsure of what just meant, the word diplomat is also in
the sentence and has a positive connotation. (Diplomat-One who
keeps peaceful relationships between countries.)
• These words (just and diplomat) should help you predict that the king
was a careful and or good ruler.
Step 3: Select the Best Match
• Compare your prediction to each answer choice.
• Read every choice before deciding which answer best completes the
sentence.
Practice• For this sentence, check each answer to see which pair has two
positive words- and are synonyms- as descriptive words for the king.
• A. quick and capricious are not necessarily positive, and they are not similar in
meaning (capricious means erratic or fickle)
• B. Equitable means fair. Equitable and wise are similar, and they’re both
positive. This is the best choice so far, but check the rest.
• C. Immoral is a negative word, so eliminate this choice right away.
• D. Generous and witty are positive, but they are not similar and don’t make
sense in the sentence.
• E. Uneducated is negative, so eliminate this choice.
Step 4: Plug Your Answer Choice into the
Sentence
• Put your answer choice in the blank (or blanks).
• Only one choice should really make sense.
• If you’ve gone through the four steps and more than one choice still
looks good, eliminate the choice(s) that you can, guess from the
remaining choices, and move on.
• If all the choices look great or all of the choices look terrible, circle the
question and come back to it when you’ve finished the section.
And the answer is…
• The king’s --- decisions as a diplomat and administrator led to his
legendary reputation as a just and --- ruler.
• A. quick…capricious
• B. equitable…wise
• C. immoral…perceptive
• D. generous…witty
• E. clever…uneducated
Techniques for Tackling the Hardest Questions
• Sentence completions go from easiest to hardest, though some
sections may start with medium-difficulty questions.
• The higher the question number, the harder the question, so the last
few Sentence Completion questions in a set will be the most difficult.
If You Get Stuck:
• If you find yourself getting stuck, there are a few techniques to pull
you through:
•
•
•
•
Avoid tricky wrong answers
Decode tricky sentences
Work around tough vocabulary
It all else fails- guess
Avoid Tricky Wrong Answers:
• Toward the end of a set, watch out for tricky answer choices. Avoid
the following:
• Opposites of the correct answer
• Words that sound right just because they’re hard
• Two-blankers in which one word fits but the other doesn’t
Decode Tricky Sentences:
• Sometimes a sentence may seem to mean one thing, but a word or
two turns it into the opposite meaning.
• Example:
• Granted, Janice is extremely ----; still, it is difficult to imagine her as a
professional comedian.
•
•
•
•
•
A. dull
B. garrulous
C. effusive
D. conservative
E. witty
Decoded continued…
• Read this sentence carefully or you may get tricked.
• If you read too quickly, you might think, “If Janice is hard to imagine
as a comedian, she’s probably extremely dull or conservative. So I’ll
pick either (A) or (D).”
• However, the sentence is saying something else.
• Pick out the clues in the sentence:
• Granted, Janice is extremely ----; still, it is difficult to imagine her as a professional comedian.
So the Correct Answer Is….
• Granted, Janice is extremely ----; still, it is difficult to imagine her as a
professional comedian.
•
•
•
•
•
A. dull
B. garrulous
C. effusive
D. conservative
E. witty
Helpful Word Tools:
• Word Charge: this is a positive, negative, or neutral feeling of words.
• Foreign language: English words are sometimes similar
• Word Roots: the meaning of Latin and Greek roots connect large
families of words in English
• Similar Words: These are often related
Take Apart Tough Sentences
• Some sentences are difficult because they seem to lack the context you
need to determine the correct answer.
• Example:
• Although this small and selective publishing house is famous for its ---- standards,
several of its recent novels have appealed to the general public.
• A. proletarian
B. naturalistic
C. discriminating
D. imitative
E. precarious
• In this sentence, the parts of the sentence surrounding the blank seem a
little vague, and the word choices are advanced adjectives.
• If you were stumped and had no idea which word to pick, plug the answer
choices into the sentence and make the best guess based on which word
you think gives the most information.
• Here, we are looking for a word that describes standards that would keep
them from publishing books that appear to the general public.
Breaking down the choices….
• A. Proletarian standards? Doesn’t seem appropriate because proletarian
means characteristic of the average citizen, or working class, so it’s the
opposite of the word we want.
• B. Naturalistic standards? Doesn’t seem to contrast with the idea of
popular appeal.
• C. Discriminative standards? Seems to fit. If they are discriminating, they
are very selective and would probably not publish books that are popular
with the general public.
• D. Imitative standards? Sounds weird and doesn’t make sense.
• E. Precarious standards? Doesn’t make sense in the context of the
sentence.
Two-Blank Sentence Practice:
• Now try a medium-difficulty sentence with two blanks.
• Use the steps we just reviewed.
• These latest employment statistics from the president administration are
so loosely documented, carelessly explained, and potentially misleading
that even the most loyal senators will ---- the ---- of the presidential
appointees who produced them.
•
•
•
•
•
A. perceive…intelligence
B. understand…tenacity
C. recognize…incompetence
D. praise…rigor
E. denounce…loyalty
And the answer is….
• These latest employment statistics from the president administration
are so loosely documented, carelessly explained, and potentially
misleading that even the most loyal senators will ---- the ---- of the
presidential appointees who produced them.
•
•
•
•
•
A. perceive…intelligence
B. understand…tenacity
C. recognize…incompetence
D. praise…rigor
E. denounce…loyalty
• Incompetence is the only negative second blank word choice and
recognize fits in the first blank.
Work Around Tough Vocabulary
• Fortunately, you can often figure out enough context to get the correct
answer, even if you don’t know all of the vocabulary words in the sentence.
• Example:
• Despite her --- of public speaking experience, the student council member was
surprisingly cogent, and expressed the concerns of her classmates persuasively.
• A. hope
B. depth
C. method
D. lack
E. union
• If you don’t know what cogent means, work around it.
• Keyword and lets you know that cogent goes with expressed the concerns
of her classmates persuasively.
• All you need to know is that the student council member was persuasive
despite a --- of speaking experience.
• Surprisingly is another clue. Suggests that the student was not
expected to express herself so effectively because she did not have
much public speaking experience.
• Further, two of the answer choices don’t’ really make sense if you
insert them in the blank (method or union).
• D. lacks is really the only choice that makes sense
• *Note- cogent- means convincing
If All Else Fails…Guess!
• If you’re really stumped, don’t be afraid to guess.
• Eliminate all answer choices that can’t possibly be right, and guess
from the remaining choices.
• If you have eliminated at least 2 choices, the chance to gain points
outweighs the possibility of losing points for incorrect answers.