SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published (22 page)

This is yet another example of a question that test-takers can often attack successfully even without knowing what all the words mean, provided they read carefully and follow the rules of the test.

First, let’s start with a careful reading of the
sentence itself. (This is always important, but it’s especially worth mentioning in this sentence because this one is a bit more complicated than most of them will be.) We can tell that the word in the first blank needs to mean something like “depict[ing] both the strengths and weaknesses” and “avoiding . . . extremes.” The word in the second blank needs to be the opposite of “indictment”—we know this because of the phrase “two extremes,” which indicates that the next blank must be the opposite of “indictment” (otherwise there would be only one extreme, mentioned twice). If we’re alert to the College Board’s unwritten rules, we know that the second blank goes with the idea of “depict[ing] strengths,” just as “indictment” must go with the idea of “depict[ing] . . . weaknesses.”

So let’s start with the first blank. Based on what we’ve just figured out, (A) might seem like a good option for the first blank
initially, but there’s a problem with it. If something is “polarized,” then it involves the idea of two polar opposites or extremes, but the second half of the sentence talks about “avoiding . . . extremes.” So if we read carefully, (A) actually doesn’t work, even though (A) is the choice test-takers usually go with when they get the question wrong.

As always, it’s important to think about
exactly
what words mean, and
exactly
what the text says.

(B) doesn’t work either, because the idea of being imaginative has nothing to do with the idea of “depict[ing] strengths and weaknesses.”

(C) has a word for the first blank that most test-takers won’t recognize, so let’s come back to it.

(D) doesn’t work because it would only involve depicting strengths.

(E) might be another unknown word, but perhaps we can realize that the root “equi” probably indicates the idea of equality, which could be related to the idea of showing both the good and the bad.

So, after some careful reading and thinking, we can realize that (C) and (E) might work for the first blank. Now the issue is to figure out what could work for the second blank, out of “censure” and “eulogy.”

“Censure” sounds a lot like “censor” and seems to have a similar meaning, so it’s not a good match for the idea of “depict[ing] . . . the strengths.”

“Eulogy” is a word that a lot of
test-takers might recognize from funerals, and that connotation of death might seem like a negative thing at first. But let’s think about it for a second: the eulogy at a funeral is always a positive speech, full of kind thoughts and funny stories. So a “eulogy” really could be a “depict[ion]” of “strengths,” just as the sentence requires, and (E) must be the right answer.

Of course, we don’t even have to realize that “eulogy” works if we can work out that “censure” doesn’t, and that only (C) and (E) have acceptable options for the first blank.

But notice, again, that this entire thought process requires us to read carefully and to play by the test’s rules. If we just throw in whatever sounds kind of good to us and don’t pay attention to the details, we’ll end up missing questions like this for no reason.

Students often miss this question because they don’t pay enough attention to the details. (How many times have you heard me say that by now? The reason it keeps coming up is that the SAT does the same things over and over again, and if you want to beat the test you have to be trained to look for those things automatically.)

From the
sentence, we can tell that the first blank needs to restate the idea of “automatically reject[ing]” things that “seem silly or superstitious.” (We know this because the sentence says that scientists shouldn’t do that, and then says being a scientist isn’t a license for whatever goes in the first blank.) So let’s start with that. “Experimentation” doesn’t work for the first blank, and neither does “humility” or “rigidity,” because none of those words describe the idea of rejecting things because you think they’re silly. But “arrogance” and “smugness” work well for that idea. So let’s take a look at the other words in (B) and (D).

(B) doesn’t fit if we put it in the sentence, because we would be saying that “qualifications” don’t “pursue prejudice” (the word “they” right before the second blank refers back to the word “qualifications”). A qualification can’t pursue anything, though—only people or animals can choose to pursue something.

But some people also have a problem with (D), because it seems to them like “legitimate” should be an adjective, and the sentence is clearly calling for a verb in the second blank. We have to remember, though, that all of the options for a particular blank are always the same part of speech; in other words, if the second blank needs to be a verb, and all the other answer choices for that blank can be verbs, then it must be that “legitimate” can also be used as a verb. (By the way, the verb form of “legitimate” is pronounced “luh – jit – uh – MATE.”)

So (D) can work, because the verb “legitimate” restates the idea of being a “license” for something.

Remember, once more, how important it is to know the rules of the SAT when answering Sentence Completion questions. The many people who miss this question don’t do so because they don’t know the words “pursue” and “legitimate.” They miss this question because they don’t pay attention to details on the SAT.

This is another question that students nearly always ask me about. Many test-takers would probably do best to skip this one, but there are some things here that we can figure out.

First, we know that the word in the first blank must mean “elaborately contrived.” We also know that the word in the second blank must restate the idea of “master[ing]” something.

Now let’s look at the answer choices.

Most people won’t know anything about either word in (A), so we’ll skip that for now.

For (B), people will often think that being “conscientious” might be kind of related to mastering something. But if we think about it very carefully, we can see there’s a distinction there—while many masters are very conscientious in their devotion to their chosen fields, it’s possible to master something without doing it conscientiously. People can master tying their shoes without conscientious study, for instance. It’s also possible to be conscientious about something without mastering it. Further, the word “nefarious” has a negative feel to it (because of the prefix “ne-“) that doesn’t really reflect anything in the sentence. So this one is out.

For (C), the word “devious” doesn’t really fit with the idea of something being “elaborate” from the text. It’s true that some “strategies” can be “devious,” but that still doesn’t address the idea of being “elaborately contrived.”

For (D), “onerous” probably seems like a difficult word to figure out, but in “slipshod” we can see the root “slip.” Since the idea of slipping generally indicates that something is not working properly (like when a car’s transmission “slips”) or that something has happened by accident (like when someone lets a detail “slip” or when an athlete “slips” on the playing field), it seems unlikely that the word “slipshod” is appropriate to describe someone who “master[s]” something. So this one is probably out, too.

For (E), the word “predictable” doesn’t restate the idea of something being “elaborate.” So this one is out, too.

That leaves us with only (A). Even though most test-takers don’t know what either word in (A) means, we can still probably figure out that something is wrong with the other 4 choices, and that (A) must be correct . . .
assuming we read carefully and respect the rules of the test.
Most people who miss this question will choose (B), because they ignore the negative connotation of “nefarious” and talk themselves into thinking that “conscientious” restates the idea of “master[ing]” something. Don’t make those kinds of mistakes. Don’t give points away for no reason.

In this question, the word in the first blank needs to restate the idea of being “openhanded.” Many test-takers will probably be unfamiliar with that word, but that might not be enough to kill our chances on this question. We might also be able to tell that the two words in the blank should contradict each other, because the sentence says it’s “difficult to reconcile” the two words, which means they must be antonyms according to the College Board’s unwritten rules.

Now our job is to look for an answer choice with two antonyms in it. We can probably tell that the words in (A) aren’t opposites, and we might also be able to tell that the words in (B) aren’t, either. (C) is a choice that many test-takers will skip the first time through because they don’t know what its words mean. The words in (D) are both synonyms
. If we know the words in (E), we can tell they’re kind of similar to each other but not actually synonyms. If we don’t know them, then we should hold off on eliminating them.

At this point, then, if we can work out that (A), (B), (D), and (E) aren’t right, then we can confidently mark (C)
, and be correct. Of course, that assumes that we’re comfortable enough with the words “insolence” and “solicitousness” to be able to determine that (B) and (E) are wrong. If not, we may have to skip this question.

(There’s one other possible approach we could take: we might be able to recognize that the root of “magnanimity” is “magna,” which means “big” in Latin, and that the root of “pettiness” is “pett
y,” which comes from the French word for “small.” Realizing that could let us figure out that the words in (C) are opposites.)

Here, the first blank needs to be something with a negative connotation, because it reflects what the institute’s opponents call it, and it also needs to restate something about the idea of nobility. The second blank needs to reflect the idea of something that nobility might have had.

(A) probably looks
good for the first word, because “elitist” is a word with a negative connotation that could describe something related to nobility. (It’s true that “elite” by itself is a positive word, but an “elitist” is someone who considers himself elite and will only deal with other elites—in other words, a snob.) We probably don’t recognize the second word here (it’s NOT “pre-requisites,” which is how many people incorrectly read it). So (A) seems like it might be possible at this point. Let’s move on and see our other options.

(B) might seem pretty good for the idea of “nobility” in the text, but this is yet another time when considering something very carefully becomes extremely important. The word “monarchical” technically refers to a form of government in which there is only one ruler. It’s true that some monarchical systems also included a class of nobles, but not all do. This is a critical distinction in this case, because the sentence is talking about a group of people (“scholars”) in an “institute.” It’s not talking about
a single person with power over others, which is what the word “monarchical” would indicate. So (B) is wrong. To a lot of people, this analysis will sound like splitting hairs, but this is exactly the kind of thing we should be on the lookout for if we want to maximize our scores on the SAT. Picking up on these subtle attributes of words you already know (not memorizing hundreds of extra definitions!) is what will help push you to an exceptional score.

(C) seems to work for the second blank, but most test-takers won’t know the first word. Let’s hold on to this one as a possibility and keep going.

(D) doesn’t work because of the second blank—nothing in the sentence mentions anyone or anything being afflicted.

(E) doesn’t wor
k because of the first blank. “Commend[ing]” something means praising it, and the opponents of an institute wouldn’t praise it (at least, not on a Sentence Completion question on the SAT).

So
in this hypothetical scenario, we’re left liking the first word in (A) and the second word in (C). At this point I would recommend most people should skip the question, because I don’t like to put down an answer unless I’m positive I’m right (see my remarks on guessing earlier in this book, if you haven’t already).

If you feel confident, you may be able to figure out that “perquisites” sounds an awful lot like “perks,” the word used to describe bonuses that a person might receive at work or through a rewards program. If you notice the relationship between those two words, then you can be sure (A) is right. On the other hand, you might be able to recall that “reproach” is a negative word, so calling something “irreproachable”
is actually a compliment, which wouldn’t work for the first blank, so (C) would have to be wrong.

But, again, for most test-takers this is probably going to be a good question to skip.

This question is one that test-takers often miss, even though they can usually figure it out if they think carefully about it.

At first, it might look like we need to know the meanings of the words “skepticism” and “nihilism,” but we actually don’t; in fact, we don’t need to know the word “elucidate,” either. What really matters here is the word “helps,” which tells us that the ancient philosophy went along with the 19th-century philosophy in some way.