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=20140519&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.)
Reading this blog is 10% about learning how to answer today’s questions and 90% learning how to apply strategies and analyze questions you may see on test day.
This is a great question to use to learn a couple of things about the SAT Sentence Completion questions.
The answer is C. Let’s do the question and then let’s see what we can learn about the test. To begin, ask yourself, “What’s the topic?” The politician is “confident;” so, we can predict she thinks she will win on election day. Therefore, she isn’t threatened by her opponent. We could predict a word for the second blank that means it is a minor annoyance. Looking at the answers for the first word, only Answer C, prevail fits. Checking out the second word for Answer C, distraction, we see a word that is consistent with our prediction for that blank. All done.
Now let’s consider what we can learn from this question. First, for Sentence Completion questions with two blanks, sometimes we only need to find a word that works for one of the blanks because we can eliminate all the other answers since they don’t fit! The second word just falls into place. That is why I want you to do one blank at a time for Sentence Completion questions with two blanks.
Second, for Sentence Completion questions with two blanks, you will often see synonyms in the answers for one of the blanks. Consider them carefully. Take a look at today’s question and you’ll see what I mean. For the second blank there are synonyms for the second blank: distraction and diversion. You could bet that one of them is correct! Sure enough–one of them is the right answer! This is not true 100% of the time but it is so frequently true that it is well worth your time as a guessing technique when you can’t come up with an answer using the standard approach of determining the topic and predicting the answer.
Let’s see what the ACT folks have 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.
This is another question we see all the time. I think we should start a national campaign that overwhelms the ACT email boxes with complaints about the constant use of the same questions. However, if you are new to my blog, take a look at my explanation .
The answer is F. For the ACT Science Test, use the same strategy you use on the Reading Test: PICK. Ask yourself, “Which answer fits back into the passage without adding or disagreeing with the information?” Answers G, H, and J don’t fit because they disagree with the given information. That was easy.
QotD Words of “Wiz-dom”:
The old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” sure applies to preparing for the SAT and ACT tests. If you are just starting to prepare for the June tests, you need to dedicate a few hours each day to increasing your score. If you are getting ready for the fall tests, you are in great shape. A few hours each week will work.
Make sure your studies are organized and consistent. You can use my program to organize yourself. It spells out all the things you’ll be seeing on the test. Both the free online program and the video series will guide you through the topics you need to know and skills you need to develop to improve your score.
Congratulations! You are already working on your scores. Keep it up.
Bob Alexander, the “SAT and ACT Wizard”
