Princeton Review SAT Book

Princeton Review SAT Book

PowerPoint #1 (Grade 9):Part II: Critical ReadingSection 2: Sentence Completions

Introduction (pages 18-52)

Sentence Completions (page 18-21)

Each of the two 25 minute Critical Reading sections of SAT begins with sentence completion questions.

There are 7 or 8 of these that get increasingly more difficult.

TIP: Always look for a clue that leads you to the correct answer.

You’ll never see this kind of question.

Jane --------- the VCR.a) installedb) droppedc) programmedd) stolee) shotSince ANY answer could work, there is no one

best answer. The SAT is not that tricky.

Look for the clue!

Because she wanted to tape a program when she wasn’t home, Jane --------- the VCR.

a) installedb) droppedc) programmedd) stolee) shotBefore you answer . . . What is the clue in the

question? (There is only one best answer.)

The clue is . . .


a) installedb) droppedc) programmedd) stolee) shot

And the correct answer is . . .


a) installedb) droppedc) programmedd) stolee) shot

The Princeton Review Method

1. Cover up the answer choices.2. Look for the clue in the sentence.3. Look at the answer choices and see

ones best fit. Eliminate ones that are definitely wrong.

4. If you still have more than one choice, take your best guess.

Using the Method, what is the answer?

So --------- was the young boy’s behavior that his teachers decided to give him a gold star.

a) exemplaryb) unrulyc) arrogantd) radicale) imaginative

1. Cover up the answer choices.


2. Look for the clue.


2. Look for the clue.


Sounds like positive, good behavior, right?

3. Look for answers that seem most likely; eliminate any that are definitely wrong. So --------- was the young boy’s behavior

that his teachers decided to give him a gold star.

a) exemplaryb) unrulyc) arrogantd) radicale) imaginative

3. Look for answers that seem most likely; eliminate any that are definitely wrong. So --------- was the young boy’s behavior


a) exemplaryb) xxxxc) xxxxd) xxxxe) imaginative

4. Take a best guess among the remaining choices. So --------- was the young boy’s behavior


a) exemplaryb) xxxxc) xxxxd) xxxxe) imaginative

4. Take a best guess among the remaining choices. So --------- was the young boy’s behavior


a) exemplary (means “ideal, worthy of imitation”)

b) xxxxc) xxxxd) xxxxe) imaginative

Quick Quiz #1 (page 22)

Take out a piece of paper and put your name on it.

Write down numbers #1 through 5. Turn to page 22. Cover up page 23 (the

answers) with a folder or something else besides your paper (which you might see through!).

Answer the questions, only writing down the correct letter answer for each. When you are finished, close the workbook with your answer sheet and/or folder as a bookmark.

You have five minutes.

Answers to Quick Quiz #1 (page 23)

The answers are:1. B2. D3. A4. E5. C Explanations for your answers are on page 23. How did you do? Any questions?

Trigger Words (pages 24-25)

Certain words reveal a lot about the structure of a sentence. We call those words “trigger words.”

Watching for trigger words can be another kind of clue to help you complete sentences.

TIP: Always circle trigger words whenever you see them.

TIP: Using these words and phrases in “compare and contrast” essays, and answers for ORQs, are also very effective!

What are words that could complete this sentence?

You’re beautiful, but you’re . . .


You’re beautiful, but you’re . . .

If but helped you realize the continuation would be negative (different than the positive word “beautiful”), good job!

But is an example of a trigger word that signals a contradiction.

Contradiction trigger words/phrases

but however

although even though

despite though

rather on the contrary

yet in contrast


You’re beautiful, and you’re very . . .


You’re beautiful, and you’re very . . .

If and helped you realize the continuation would be positive (since “beautiful” is also considered positive), good job!

And is an example of a trigger word that signals a continuation or amplification.

Continuation/amplification trigger words/phrases

and in fact

not only but also

because indeed, even


Write down numbers #1 through 5. Turn to page 26. Cover up page 27 (the

answers) with a folder or something else besides your paper (which you might see through!).

Answer the questions, only writing down the correct letter answer for each. When you are finished, close the workbook with your answer sheet and/or folder as a bookmark.

You have five minutes.


The answers are:1. B2. A3. C4. E5. E Explanations for your answers are on page 27. How did you do? Any questions?

Degree of Difficulty (page 28)

Remember: the first few sentence completions of each new set / section are relatively easy. The sentences, and the correct answers, get progressively harder as you continue.

As you near the end of the sentence completions, as a last-ditch strategy, throw out the easy vocabulary words and take a guess!

TIP: Remember that the answers to difficult sentence completions tend to use difficult vocabulary words.

Example #1 (Degree of Difficulty)

(a) supplied(b) tainted(c) betrayed(d) corrected(e) increased


(a) xxxx(b) tainted(c) xxxx(d) xxxx(e) xxxx


(a) complexity(b) uniqueness(c) exorbitance(d) paucity(e) fragility


(a) xxxx(b) xxxx(c) exorbitance(d) paucity(e) xxxx


(a) (already eliminated)(b) indifference . . . legitimate(c) (already eliminated)(d) immunity . . . hyperbolic(e) (already eliminated)


Turn to page 26. Cover up the answers on the bottom half with your folder.

Answer the questions, using the shaded bubble area.

You have two minutes.

Answers to Quick Quiz #3

The answers are:1. B2. D3. D Read over the explanations for any that

you missed. How did you do? Any questions?

Is a missing word positive or negative? (page 30-31)

Look for context clues in the sentence to help determine whether the correct word is positive or negative.

NOTE: You can only determine if a possible word choice is positive or negative if you have seen it before!

Are we looking for a positive or negative word? When Lattitia Douglas was ----- by the railroad

company in 1903, it represented a personal victory for her.

a) censuredb) laudedc) rebukedd) rebuttede) underminedBefore you answer . . . What is the clue in the

question?

Are we looking for a positive or negative word? When Lattitia Douglas was ----- by the railroad

company in 1903, it represented a personal victory for her.

a) censuredb) laudedc) rebukedd) rebuttede) undermined“Victory” is positive. Which of the answers seems

to be the best positive word choice?

Are we looking for a positive or negative word? When Lattitia Douglas was ----- by the

railroad company in 1903, it represented a personal victory for her.

a) censuredb) lauded (means “praised”)c) rebukedd) rebuttede) undermined

Two-Blank Sentence Completion (pages 31-34)

The same idea of looking for positive/negative clues applies to two-blank sentence completion, but you can quickly eliminate wrong answer pairs if you know one half definitely does not fit.

TIP: In two-blank sentence completions, attack the blanks one at a time.

TIP: It sometimes helps to actually write the words “positive” or “negative” into the blanks, in order to help determine which pair fits best.

The Princeton Review Method

1. Cover up the answer choices and read the entire sentence.

2. If possible, write “positive” and/or “negative” in the blanks, to help with answer choices.

3. Decide which of the two blanks would be easier for you to fill in with your own word.

4. Concentrate on that corresponding word choice in the pair answers, eliminating wrong answers.

5. For the remaining answers, look at the other word choice, and see what fits best in the sentence.

Using the Method, what is the answer?

Although the food at the restaurant was usually ---------, the main course was ----- by an overabundance of salt.

a) bland . . enhancedb) indifferent . . supplantedc) delectable . . marredd) distinguished . . elevatede) diverse . . superb

1. Cover up the answer choices and read the entire sentence.

Although the food at the restaurant was usually --------, the main course was ----- by an overabundance of salt.

2. If possible, write “positive” and/or “negative” in the blanks, to help with answer choices. Although the food at the

restaurant was usually --------, the main course was ----- by an overabundance of salt.

2. If possible, write “positive” and/or “negative” in the blanks, to help with answer choices. Although the food at the

restaurant was usually (positive), the main course was (negative) by an overabundance of salt.


Although the food at the restaurant was usually (positive), the main course was (negative) by an overabundance of salt.



Let’s try the second blank. There’s not a lot of information in the first half of the sentence, but we can probably come up with several words that would work for the second. “Ruined”? “Spoiled”? “Flawed”?



a) bland . . enhancedb) indifferent . . supplantedc) delectable . . marredd) distinguished . . elevatede) diverse . . superb



a) xxxxxb) indifferent . . supplantedc) delectable . . marredd) xxxxxe) xxxxx

5. For the remaining answers, look at the other word choice, and see what fits best in the sentence. Although the food at the restaurant was

usually (positive), the main course was (negative) by an overabundance of salt.

a) xxxxxb) indifferent . . supplantedc) delectable . . marredd) xxxxxe) xxxxx

5. For the remaining answers, look at the other word choice, and see what fits best in the sentence. Although the food at the restaurant was

usually (positive), the main course was (negative) by an overabundance of salt.

a) xxxxxb) indifferent . . supplantedc) delectable . . marred (positive . . negative)

d) xxxxxe) xxxxx


Close your workbook.Write down numbers #1 through 3.The next slide will have your quiz. In each

of the following sentences, try to decide if the blanks should be positive or negative.

Pay attention to trigger words!You have two minutes.

Quick Quiz #4

1. The new law will be very unpopular with the citizens of New Mexico because it ---- many ------ beliefs.

2. Despite the ------ of the men and women in the rescue team, their effort was ------.

3. The team had looked forward to the semi-final match with great -------, but the event proved to be ---------.


The answers are:1. - then +2. + then -3. + then - Explanations for your answers are on

page 35. How did you do? Any questions?

Problem Sets #1, 2 and 3

Turn to Problem Set #1, page 37. Write down #1 through 10 on your paper.

Complete Problem Set #1, writing your answers on your paper.

Move on and complete Problem Set #2 (page 42) and Problem Set #3 (page 48); use the shaded bubble area to record your answers.

You have 15 minutes.

Review Answers to Problem Sets

Check your answers.Read over the explanations for any that

you missed.How did you do?Any questions?

This concludes today’s SAT Review!

Princeton Review SAT Book

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