English Name:_________________________

S.A.T. Prep & Practice

Sentence Completions, Part II Class:____________

• Remember the first piece of advice for sentence completion questions:

TAKE A GUESS at the MEANING of the answer before you even look at the answer choices.

• To help with that, pay attention to SIGNAL WORDS that inform you about whether a word in a blank is “good” or “bad”…whether it’s the same, or an opposite…as a different part of the sentence, or as the other blank.

Some OPPOSITE or CONTRAST signal words: although, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, rather than, still, yet

Some SUPPORT or LIKE signal words: additionally, also, and, besides, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover.

In sharp contrast to the previous night’s wild revelry, the wedding was __________ affair.

[The answer will be the OPPOSITE OF “wild revelry”.]

A. a fervent B. a dignified C. a chaotic D. an ingenious E. a jubilant

During the Middle Ages, plague and other ________ decimated the populations of entire towns.

[The answer will be THE SAME AS “plague” or “disease”.]

A. pestilences B. immunizations C. proclivities D. indispositions E. demises

1. As news of his guilt spread through the town, the citizens began to _____ him and to avoid meeting him.

2. Unlike W.E.B. DuBois, who was _____ of the vocational emphasis in black education, Booker T. Washington favored _____ the limited funds available for educating Blacks to programs that prepared people for practical jobs. [The first blank will be the opposite of “favored”, and the two halves of the sentence will mean opposites.]

3. I can vouch for his honesty; I have always found him _____ and carefully observant of the truth.

4. Crowther maintained that the current revival was the most fatuous and _____ production of the entire theatrical season. [The blank means the same as “fatuous”…If you don’t know what it means, can you guess?]

5. Despite the mixture’s _____ nature, we found that by lowering its temperature in the laboratory we could dramatically reduce its tendency to vaporize. [Use part of the sentence to say what the blank is like.]

6. Although newscasters often use the terms Chicano and Latino _____, students of Hispanic-American culture are profoundly aware of the _____ the two. [The second blank has two words in it, like “likeness between”.]

7. Hroswitha the nun, though hidden among the cloisters and _____ time, is now considered an important literary figure of the medieval period. [Two words go in the blank, a verb and a preposition…For example, “stuck in”…What will the answer be the opposite of?]

8. Although its publicity has been _____, the film itself is intelligent, well-acted, handsomely produced, and altogether _____.

9. Although frugal by nature, on this special occasion he refused to _____, but instead feasted his guests _____. [The word in the second blank will end in –ly.]

10. Because he was _____ by nature, he preferred reading a book in the privacy of his own study to visiting a nightclub with friends.

Don’t peek at the back of the paper yet!

You might not know all of the words, but GUESS ANYWAY, and see how many you get right.

1. As news of his guilt spread through the town, the citizens began to _____ him and to avoid meeting him.

A. ostracize B. congratulate C. desecrate

D. minimize E. harass

2. Unlike W.E.B. DuBois, who was _____ of the vocational emphasis in black education, Booker T. Washington favored _____ the limited funds available for educating Blacks to programs that prepared people for practical jobs.

A. critical…restricting B. aware…confining

C. suspicious…denying D. protective…allotting

E. appreciative…allocating

3. I can vouch for his honesty; I have always found him _____ and carefully observant of the truth.

A. arbitrary B. plausible C. volatile D. veracious

E. innocuous

4. Crowther maintained that the current revival was the most fatuous and _____ production of the entire theatrical season.

A. gripping B. inane C. prophetic D. memorable

E. salubrious

5. Despite the mixture’s _____ nature, we found that by lowering its temperature in the laboratory we could dramatically reduce its tendency to vaporize.

A. resilient B. volatile C. homogeneous D. insipid

E. acerbic

6. Although newscasters often use the terms Chicano and Latino _____, students of Hispanic-American culture are profoundly aware of the _____ the two.

A. interchangeably…dissimilarities between

B. indifferently…equivalence of

C. deprecatingly…controversies about

D. unerringly…significance of

E. confidently…origins of

7. Hroswitha the nun, though hidden among the cloisters and _____ time, is now considered an important literary figure of the medieval period.

A. oppressed by B. fighting against C. celebrated throughout D. elapsed from E. obscured by

8. Although its publicity has been _____, the film itself is intelligent, well-acted, handsomely produced, and altogether _____.

A. tasteless…respectable B. extensive…moderate

C. sophisticated…amateur D. risqué…crude

E. perfect…spectacular

9. Although frugal by nature, on this special occasion he refused to _____, but instead feasted his guests _____.

A. splurge…munificently B. conserve…intangibly

C. stint…lavishly D. temporize…austerely

E. cooperate…exorbitantly

10. Because he was _____ by nature, he preferred reading a book in the privacy of his own study to visiting a nightclub with friends.

A. an exhibitionist B. a hedonist C. an adversary

D. an egoist E. an introvert

Now try these, which are all considered “hard” sentence completion questions:

1. Ruskin’s vitriolic attack was the climax of the _____ heaped on paintings that today seem amazingly _____.

A. criticism…unpopular B. ridicule…inoffensive C. praise…amateurish D. indifference…scandalous

E. acclaim…creditable

2. The phenomenon is called viral _____ because the presence of one kind of virus seems to inhibit infection by any other.

A. proliferation B. mutation C. interference D. epidemic E. cooperation

3. Dr. Schwarz’s lecture on art, while detailed and scholarly, focused _____ on the premodern; some students may have appreciated his specialized knowledge, but those with more _____ tastes may have been disappointed.

A. literally…medieval B. completely…pedantic C. expansively…technical D. voluminously…creative

E. exclusively…comprehensive

4. Only when one actually visits the ancient ruins of marvelous bygone civilizations does one truly appreciate the sad _____ of human greatness.

A. perspicacity B. magnitude C. artistry D. transience E. quiescence

5. Although detractors labeled Margaret Thatcher’s policies _____, she asserted that her ideas moved the United Kingdom foreward.

A. premature B. autocratic C. regressive D. democratic E. radical

6. Wary of unorthodox treatments, many doctors are reluctant to concede that nutritionists have a _____ argument for the use of dietary regulation as preventive medicine.

A. cogent B. cursory C. vacillating D. feckless E. vehement

7. Some subatomic particles, _____ only through their effects on other bodies, have been compared to outer planets whose _____ was first deduced from eccentricities in other planets’ orbits.

A. feasible…irregularity B. palpable…creation C. imaginable…falsity D. perceptible…existence

E. verifiable…proximity