Here are examples of Sentence
Completions and some Short Reading
questions, two question types
that you will see on both the PSAT
and the new SAT. Try them for practice.
1. The
artist's work is generally thought
of as -------, because it does not
display any true originality.
(A) unique
(B) derivative
(C) insightful
(D) elusive
(E) beautiful
ANSWER:
The correct answer is B. The blank is talking about
the artist's work, which is described
in the second half of the sentence
as lacking originality. “Derivative?means “copied
from other sources,?and is thus the
best answer.
2. Although the beginning of the campaign
was -------, later victories -------
the initial disappointments.
(A) propitious . . nullified
(B) unsuccessful . . complicated
(C) inauspicious . . belied
(D) foreboding . . confirmed
(E) unexpected . . overshadowed
ANSWER:
The correct answer is C. The words “Although?and “later?in
this sentence denote a contrast between
the beginning of the campaign and how
it ended. Since we know that later there
were victories, we know that earlier
things didn't look good, so the first
blank will need a word that means “unsuccessful.?Eliminate
E and A. For the second blank, we need
a word that means the victories “disproved?the
earlier disappointments. Neither complicated nor confirmed mean “disprove,?so
eliminate them.
3. Pizza,
not a common dish in America before
the 1950s, is now a -------- presence
in cities everywhere.
(A) ubiquitous
(B) rarified
(C) convalescent
(D) transient
(E) denigrated
ANSWER:
The correct answer is A. This sentence describes
how pizza used to be uncommon, but is
now the opposite, so we need a word that
means “common?or “found everywhere.?Even
if you're not sure what ubiquitous means,
you can eliminate the other answers because
none of them mean “common.?/SPAN>
| Answer
questions below on the basis
of what is stated or implied in
the passage. |
|
NASA
hopes that its newly launched
Space Infrared Telescope Facility |
| |
(SIRTF)
will provide astronomers with
a more complete picture of
the |
| |
universe. While the Hubble
Space Telescope has already
given scientists |
| Line |
a
tremendous amount of new data
about the heavens, its observations
were |
| 5 |
limited
primarily to the visible spectrum
of light. Now, with SIRTF, |
| |
astronomers will be able
to explore the cosmos in an
entirely different |
| |
way,
using infrared radiation. Scientists
hope that SIRTF will finally
allow |
| |
them
to view a host of extremely
distant, extremely cold objects—objects |
| |
that
may contain clues about the
birth of the universe. |
4. According
to the passage, it can be most reasonably
inferred that
(A) SIRTF will allow scientists
to study the birth of the universe
(B) the Hubble Space Telescope
is no longer useful to astronomers
(C) the Hubble Space Telescope
does not provide astronomers with
a complete view of the universe
(D) an extremely distant,
extremely cold object does not emit
visible light
(E) SIRTF is NASA's newest
and most technologically advanced
project
ANSWER:
The correct answer is C. On lines 4-7, the author
states that the Hubble Space Telescope
could only provide information about
the visible spectrum of light. SIRTF
can allow astronomers to see more.
Answer C expresses this idea best.
Other answers are incorrect because
the passage does not provide enough
information for us to know for sure
whether they are true. Remember, when
inferring on the SAT, eliminate anything
that isn't actually stated in the passage.
5. The
author most likely mentions the Hubble
Space Telescope in order to
(A) indicate that SIRTF will
soon replace the Hubble Space Telescope
(B) reveal astronomers' frustrations
with the limitations of the Hubble
Space Telescope
(C) contrast the observational
abilities of SIRTF with the observational
abilities of the Hubble Space Telescope
(D) show that SIRTF is a better
telescope than the Hubble Space Telescope
(E) imply that scientists
think SIRTF will provide them with
more clues about the universe than
the Hubble Space Telescope did
ANSWER:
The correct answer is E. This type of question can
be tricky, because it asks why the author
chose to use a particular example, and
not for a description of the example
itself. The correct answer will describe
the point the author is trying to make.
Eliminate anything that isn't clearly
indicated in the passage. For example,
we don' t know for sure that the Hubble
Telescope will be discarded (answer A)
or that astronomers are frustrated (answer
B). And while the author is contrasting
the observational abilities of the two
telescopes (answer C), the question is
asking why he does this.
