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=20140402&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 A. The topic of the sentence is how the architect wanted to keep his own design but understood how he would need to go along with the requests of his client. We are further told by the sentence that the architect had to “make several concessions.” Using that information let’s predict words for the blanks before we look at the answers. Easy words are terrific to use. So, how about “keep” for the first blank and “going along with” for the second blank?
Now, as with all Sentence Completion questions with two blanks, let’s use one of our predictions to eliminate as many answers as possible before looking at the second blank. Let’s start with “keep.” Answers A, maintain, and E, preserve are consistent with keep. Eliminate Answers B, C, and D without wasting time looking at the second word. Check the second words for Answers A, accommodating, and E, disregarding. Answer A, accommodating, goes along with our prediction, “go along with.” Answer E, disregarding, sure doesn’t work. Bubble in A and move on.
I wonder if the ACT folks have something useful 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 answer is F. Even though this question has shown up countless times, it is still useful because it is indicative of what you will experience on the test. First, don’t bother to review science to prepare for the test because you’ll never predict what science will be on the test. Instead, you need to practice reading charts and graphs. All the information you’ll need will be in the test booklet. Use the PICK strategy from the Reading portion of my course to answer questions. If you Insert the answers into the the passage, the ones that don’t fit need to be eliminated. Answers G, H, and J add new information or disagree with the given information which means they are not insertable. Answer F fits just fine. It is the “Goldilocks” answer.
Second, the right answer will be Consistent with scientific facts that you may know prior to the test. For example, in this question, you probably are aware that the sun changes the place it rises throughout the year. That is a Paraphrase of Answer F.
Third, don’t bother to try to learn the information you are given in the passage. As with reading passages, just focus on the Main Idea. In this case, the sun’s effect on the shadows’ lengths and directions is what the information is all about. Once you understand that, go to the questions. Then you should simply refer to the information in the data displays to answer the questions. There’s nothing tricky about that. There’s a lot more information about this issue on my free website and Video Series 1000.
Finally, work on your speed. The challenge of the test will be to finish on time. Practice reading ACT charts and graphs to help with that. Use real ACT practice tests and you’ll improve your speed because you’ll get used to seeing the variety of ways the ACT folks display data. It isn’t always as simple as today’s Table 1. They use data displays that are often quite unique and you need to be prepared to use them.
QotD Words of “Wiz-dom:”
“You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.” I like that quote because it applies to all my students. No matter what their scores are in the beginning, they all want them to be better. And they all have to get started working on their scores to achieve their goals. Congratulations to you because reading my daily blog is a great start. Use my free online course or Video Series to learn even more about the tests. Doing so can make your scores much better.
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”
