If you are reading this in an email you received from me, do not click the link to sat.collegeboard.org below. Use the link to my website that is farther down on the email.
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?questionId=20140213&oq=1 (This link takes you to today’s question. If you use my archive, you will see the question related to my SAT explanation for that date.)
The answer is E. The sentences you will see for Sentence Completion questions will always be topic sentences for paragraphs. The right answer will always be a word you would expect to see somewhere in the paragraph based on the topic of the sentence.
Let’s consider this question. It is about how Wright’s designs are “captivating” and contain “beauty.” That tells us that Wright was interested in his building designs being works of art. Now use that topic to predict a word for the blank prior to looking at the answers. I predicted “artist” because the sentence is about how Wright was an architect who was interested in artistry and beauty. Don’t bother to try to use fancy “SAT” words. Use words that make sense to you. Now use your prediction to find a synonym. Eliminate words that you know that don’t relate to your prediction. That left me with the word “aesthete.”
How many do you have to eliminate before you guess? ONE ! Now the odds are with you. Take a look at my “Test-taking” skills video for a detailed explanation for why this is true.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have in store for us today.
ACT Question of the Day: Use your “back” button to return to my website after reading the ACT Question of the Day.
Well, what do you know? They have a question we just answered within the last week or so. They need to quit playing in the frozen corn fields and develop some new questions! (They are based in Iowa.)
The answer is D. As always, you don’t need to worry about having memorized scientific facts to answer this question. The correct answers for the Science Test questions will be right in front of you. Look at the table. The only data that show no change for depths of 10 cm or more is O2. We’re all done.
What can you learn from this “overused” question? Rather than review science facts, practice reading charts and graphs. Use the Real ACT Prep Guide and you’ll see a lot of data displays. Work on your speed for finding the information in the charts, tables, graphs, etc. That will be your challenge for the test–finishing on time. In short, this test is not about science knowledge; it is about understanding the scientific process (science reasoning) and the way scientists report their data.
I want to thank all those families that came out in the storm last night at Bartow High School to listen to what Dr. Alexander and I had to say about searching for colleges and SAT/ACT prep. Here’s a big shout out to Ms. D who organized the program and hosted us. Tonight we’ll be at Apopka High and are looking forward to meeting those families and helping them better understand the challenges they will face during this important phase of their lives.
Enjoy your day. Use it to make a difference in your life and the lives of others.
The SAT & ACT Wizard
