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=20140306&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 B. The subject of the sentence is Troy and so we need to focus our attention on what the sentence tells us about him. What is says about Troy is the topic. We are told his “spirits were low” and nobody could “cheer him up.” That is, the information we’ll use to predict words for the blank like sad or upset. Those two words will guide us as we look at answers. “Disconsolate” means he was not able to be consoled or cheered up.
What would you have done if you had not known these words? Use word parts. “Dis-” means not and even if you didn’t know the meaning of “-consolate,” you could see console as a similar word. There you go, “not consolable.” Poor Troy couldn’t be cheered up.
I wonder if the ACT folks have something new 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. We have to transition from the the professor’s behavior to baseball and people’s love for it. Only F works. None of the other answers are insertable. They are completely off topic and add to the story.
There was much ado in the news last night about the new changes in the SAT. I’ve got to do some more detailed research today but so far I’ve got to say it was “much ado about nothing.” Eliminating some of vocabulary that nobody sees anywhere except on the SAT is a good move. Making the essay optional is what the ACT folks have always done. Changing the scoring system is no big deal. So, I’ve got to see if there are really any changes that make a difference in the brew. The changes go into effect in 2016. So they won’t affect most of you!
I’ll let you know more details soon. Stay tuned.
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”
