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.
If you are seeing this in my blog, do the SAT Question of the Day by clicking on this link:
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-question-of-the-day?questionId=20131110&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 C. As always, start with the topic of the sentence and focus on key words and phrases as well as internal punctuation. Miller is a positive critic (“eager to praise”) and other critics (“mean-spirited) are eager to be negative. So, predict a positive word for the first blank and a negative one for the second. Then start with the blank you feel is a better prediction. I started with a negative word for the second blank. “Ignore” and “deride” are things that “mean-spirited” critics would do. That left me with only answers B and C. Now I only have two words to consider for the first blank: “impede” and “recognize.” “Impede” is negative; so, I picked C, circled it in the test booklet, bubbled it in, and moved on.
Keep in mind that when there are two blanks, you should start with your prediction for one of them to eliminate as many answers as possible. This strategy will speed you up because you have fewer answers to consider for the other blank.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have for us this morning.
ACT Question of the Day: Use your “back” button to return to my website after reading the ACT Question of the Day.
The test writers must love this question. I’ve seen it three times in the last two months. They must think we have short term memory problems. Clearly this is why students keep telling me they don’t use the ACT Question of the Day. After a short period of time, there are no more different questions. C’mon ACT; get some new material.
The answer is A. Probability is expressed as a fraction with the number of “correct” ways being the numerator and the number of “possible” ways being the denominator. After selling one yellow balloon, there are 8 yellow ones left. There is also a total of 13 balloons left after the yellow one is sold. That leaves 8/13. Circle A, bubble it, and move on.
I’ll be in Atlanta for the next few days. If you live in the area, give me a call or send an email and maybe we can schedule a tutoring session. Have a great day.
The SAT & ACT Wizard
