Verbal Reasoning: Sentence Completions
Twelve single-word blanks and nine paired-word blanks: signal words as arrows that set direction, and a pair that must light green on both halves.
16 topics · 57 questions
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What a Sentence Completion Measures
- How it worksHow do the words surrounding a blank quietly define the word that belongs inside it?
- Worked exampleWalk me through filling the blank in: Always -------, the journalist questioned viewpoints on both sides.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an option that makes a true statement automatically the option that fits?
- Going furtherWhat changes when the blank falls in the opening words rather than at the end of the sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Always -------, the journalist questioned viewpoints on both sides of each of the 9 disputes she covered.Reading the Whole Sentence Before the Choices
- How it worksHow does the second half of a sentence overturn the meaning the first half seemed to demand?
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't the clue always sit right beside the blank?
- Worked exampleFind what fills: The lecture was -------, though its first ten minutes promised something lively.
- Going furtherWhat happens when a sentence runs two clauses long and each clause pulls the blank a different way?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The lecture was -------, though its first 12 minutes promised something lively.Predicting the Word Before You Look
- How it worksHow do you build a prediction from the sentence alone, even in plain everyday language?
- Worked exampleWalk me through predicting the word in: Because the bridge had grown -------, engineers closed it.
- Going furtherWhat do you do when your prediction comes out as a whole phrase instead of one word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Because the bridge had grown ------- after 48 years without repair, engineers closed it to traffic.When the Sentence Defines the Missing Word
- How it worksHow do dashes, commas and the phrase that is turn the rest of a sentence into a definition?
- Worked exampleFind the blank in: The speaker was -------, using ten words where one would have carried the idea.
- Going furtherWhat changes when the definition of the blank is spread across two sentences rather than one?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a restatement clue always sitting after the blank rather than before it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The speaker was -------, using 31 words where one would have carried the idea.Contrast Signals: although, however, despite, yet
- How it worksHow does a contrast signal flip the arrow of meaning and throw your prediction to the far side?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: Although the plan looked -------, the committee approved it without one objection.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't but the only word that can signal a contrast inside a sentence?
- Going furtherWhat happens when a sentence carries a contrast signal and a negative word at the same time?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Although the plan looked ------- on paper, the committee approved it without one of its 12 members objecting.Cause Signals: because, since, therefore, thus
- How it worksHow do you read a cause signal as an arrow running from the stated reason into the blank?
- Worked exampleFind the word for: The soil was so ------- that the farmer harvested three times the usual crop.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't since always mean cause, when it can also mean from that time onward?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The soil was so ------- that the farmer harvested 5 times the usual crop.Continuation Signals: moreover, furthermore, also
- How it worksHow does a continuation signal let you copy a charge you already know into the empty slot?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: The novel was praised for its wit; moreover, critics called its dialogue -------.
- Going furtherWhat changes when a continuation signal joins two ideas that look unrelated on first reading?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The novel was praised for its wit by 15 reviewers; moreover, critics called its dialogue -------.Concession Signals: admittedly, granted, while
- How it worksHow does a concession set two opposite charges inside one sentence, one for each half?
- Worked exampleFind both halves of: Granted, the design was -------, but its cost made the whole plan impossible.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a concession the same as a plain contrast, given that both reverse direction?
- Going furtherWhat happens when the concession opens the sentence and the real claim arrives after a comma?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Granted, the design was -------, but its cost put the whole plan beyond the council's 8-year budget.Example Signals: for instance, such as, including
- How it worksHow do you run an example backwards to recover the category word that fills the slot?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: Her hobbies were all -------: skydiving, free climbing and swimming with sharks.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't an example ever define the blank as narrowly as the example itself?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Her hobbies were all -------: skydiving, free climbing and swimming with sharks, every one of them taken up within 6 years.Negation and Double Negatives
- How it worksHow do you count the negatives in a sentence and read off the direction the blank must point?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: Her success was not -------, since she had trained every morning for a decade.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't hardly a neutral word when you are counting negatives in a sentence?
- Going furtherWhat happens when a negative prefix inside a word adds to the negatives already in the sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Her success was not -------, since she had trained every morning for 12 years.Paired-Word Items: the Upper Level's Own Format
- How it worksHow does a two-blank sentence work as two separate tests joined into one answer choice?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: Because the inn keeps ------- rooms, guests leave ------- reviews on its website.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a two-blank item simply twice as hard as a one-blank item?
- Going furtherWhat changes when both blanks sit inside the same clause instead of in separate halves?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Because the inn keeps ------- rooms, 92 percent of its guests leave ------- reviews on the website.Solving the Easier Blank First
- How it worksHow does knocking out options on one blank alone cut four pairs down to one or two?
- Worked exampleFind the pair for: Though the evidence was -------, the jury reached a ------- verdict within an hour.
- Going furtherWhat happens when neither of the two blanks is obviously the easier one?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Though the evidence was -------, the jury reached a ------- verdict within 69 minutes.Why Both Words Must Work
- How it worksHow do you test each half of a pair on its own and keep only the pair that lights green twice?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the pair with the most impressive first word the safest one to pick?
- Worked exampleWalk me through why immaculate and laudatory beats reprehensible and cordial in a praise sentence.
- Going furtherWhat happens when two different pairs both make the sentence technically true?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In a sentence where 93 percent of guests praise an inn, why does immaculate and laudatory beat reprehensible and cordial?The Relationship Between the Two Blanks
- How it worksHow does the signal word between two blanks decide whether the pair runs together or opposite?
- Worked exampleFind the pair for: The film was -------, yet audiences found it strangely -------, filling every showing.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a pair of opposites wrong just because the two words contradict each other?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The film was -------, yet audiences found it strangely -------, filling all 16 showings in its first week.Paired-Word Traps
- How it worksHow do you spot the pair built to be eliminated on its second half alone?
- Worked exampleWalk me through: Producers want to ------- the widespread ------- that eggs cannot belong in a diet.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't a pair that reads smoothly out loud have to be logically correct?
- Going furtherWhat happens when three of four pairs work for the first blank and only one works for the second?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Producers want to ------- the widespread ------- that eggs cannot belong in a healthy diet, a belief still held by 51 percent of shoppers.When You Know Neither Word in a Pair
- How it worksHow do word parts and charge give you a direction on a pair you cannot define?
- Worked exampleFind the better pair between dispel and fallacy or invoke and reprimand for a myth-correcting sentence.
- Ties togetherHow does cracking an unknown pair reuse the root-and-prefix habit that cracks a hard single word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A sentence has a writer correcting a myth held by 48 percent of readers. Which pair is the better bet: dispel and fallacy, or invoke and reprimand?AP®, SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board (PSAT/NMSQT® jointly with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation). ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp. GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council. MCAT® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ISEE® and SSAT® are registered trademarks of their owners. None of these organizations is affiliated with, or endorses, Jentoo.