(A), (C), and (D) might seem like good choices for that first blank, then. Now, our job is to figure out which of those options could work for the second blank. (A) is unlikely to work, since the word “versatility” is positive. (C) is also no good, since “finesse” is positive (we can see the word “fine” right there in the beginning of it). (D), on the other hand, looks promising, since “ineptitude” is a negative-sounding word that indicates inability (notice its apparent difference from the positive word “apt”).
Given all of this, it’s probably pretty clear that (D) is correct. A lot of test-takers accidentally choose (A) or (C), though, because they decide they like the first half of the answer choice and then don’t bother to consider the second half and see that it doesn’t fit.
Conclusion
This section has discussed all the rules, patterns, and strategies for SAT Sentence Completion questions. We’ve learned a process to answer those questions, and we’ve used that process on some real SAT questions from the Blue Book, second edition of the College Board publication The Official SAT Study Guide.
The most important part of SAT Sentence Completion is that we don’t give up just because we don’t know a word—but we never guess, either! We rely on careful reading, careful thinking, and an awareness of the SAT’s rules. When necessary, we attack words to figure out if they might be relevant to the concepts in a sentence. Finally, we remember that we can always skip a question if we can’t figure out the answer with certainty.
Working with this section and your copy of The Official SAT Study Guide will help you get better and better at SAT Sentence Completion questions. Keep it up!
By now, you’ve seen that the SAT Passage-Based Reading questions aren’t really about the kind of reading you do in high school, and that the SAT Sentence Completion questions aren’t really about memorizing vocabulary. In fact, we’re establishing a general theme that the SAT is pretty horrible at testing the things it claims to be testing.
You’ve also probably noticed by now that the general approach to each question is the same: we read very carefully, we think very carefully about words that we know the meanings of, we avoid any interpretation, and we skip questions we can’t answer. If you practice using those simple principles and get very good at them, you’ll have an amazing score on the SAT. That’s truly all there is to it. Most of the people who fail to get an amazing score on the SAT either aren’t aware of how the test actually works, or they don’t get good enough at reading and thinking very carefully.
Video Demonstrations
If you’d like to see videos of some sample solutions like the ones in this Black Book, please visit www.SATprepVideos.com. A selection of free videos is available for readers of this book.
SAT Sentence Completion Quick Summary
This is a one-page summary of the major relevant concepts. Use it to evaluate your comprehension or jog your memory. For a more in-depth treatment of these ideas, see the rest of the section.
The Big Secret: Vocabulary doesn’t matter as much as everybody thinks. Careful reading is much more important.
Remember to read carefully at all times.
The right answer will restate some other part of the sentence.
Focus on the questions where vocabulary isn’t an issue first.
Don’t choose a word just because you know what it means. Only choose it if you think it restates a part of the sentence.
There are a few special techniques that will help you better understand words you don't know:
oThink of any connotation the unknown word might have for you.
oRemove any suffixes the word may have, and see if it sounds more familiar.
oSee if the suffix indicates anything about the word’s possible meaning. For example, “-able” indicates that some action can be done to something. “-ism” indicates a philosophy. And so on.
oConsider any likely prefixes, and possible meanings of the word without them.
oConsider possible cognates from other languages, books, company names, etc.
oThe goal isn’t to figure out exactly what a word means. The goal is to figure out if the word might be related to the ideas in the sentence.
Rules for this part of the test include:
oThe correct answer must restate some part of the sentence.
oThe correct answer must make a natural-sounding English sentence.
Here's the general Sentence Completion process:
oRead the sentence and answer choices with an open mind. Don’t pre-form the answer.
oLook for an answer choice that restates key elements of the sentence.
oUse the special Sentence Completion techniques on any words with unknown meanings.