If sentence completions are the bane (*) of your test-taking existence, be assured: you are not alone. In my four years of experience teaching with C2 Education, I have encountered many students just like you – and most of the time, what these students lacked was a good vocabulary foundation. How can you boost your word power and conquer the sentence completion questions on the SAT? What follows are a few suggestions:

Make Reading a Part of Your Daily Routine

The vocabulary used in print media (newspapers, books, etc.) far surpasses in breadth the vocabulary used in televised media. Studies have shown that newspapers and books contain, on average, 30 – 70 rare words per 1000 words, whereas television shows average around 20 rare words per 1000. So if you spend your free time watching television or playing video games, you need to change up your routine. Take 20-30 minutes out of every day to sit down with a newspaper or book of your choice. If you dedicate just a little of your time to extra-curricular reading, you will increase the probability of encountering unfamiliar words in helpful contexts.

(By the way, comic books count as print media; comic books average 50 rare words per 1000. So you don’t have to give up your manga! Internet reading, however, is a more iffy area; studies have shown that we do not read comprehensively and retain less when we read from the web. Thus, you should use the net in moderation; I suggest that 30 minutes to an hour of net time a day be your maximum.)

Be a Collector of Words

When you read, either for fun or for school, you should always be on the look out for new words and have a dictionary at hand. When you come across an unfamiliar word, look up the word in the dictionary and write it down in a vocabulary notebook.

What should an entry in a vocabulary notebook contain? Well, say you didn’t know that word I highlighted in my opening sentence – bane. Your first step would be to write the word down in your vocabulary notebook along with its dictionary definition, like so:

bane – (noun) – a source of harm or ruin.

Secondly, you should try to produce your own example sentence. For example:

Spending hours on the internet instead of studying your vocabulary for the SAT will prove to be a bane for your score.

Thirdly, you should try to write the word in its other forms:

baneful – (adjective) – harmful.

Lastly, you should include a list of synonyms:

synonyms: curse, harm, ruin.

If you keep up such a notebook on a regular basis, you will remember more words come test time.

Be Aware of Word Parts

Many words in the English language derive from Latin or Greek. If you become familiar with Latin and Greek roots, you will be able to guess the meaning of many unfamiliar words. For example, consider the ben/bene group:

benefit, beneficial, beneficent, benevolent, benign

All of these words have related meanings:

benefit – (noun) – something that is good or helpful for someone.

beneficial – (adjective) – helpful.

beneficent – (adjective) – describes someone who is helpful: kind.

benevolent – (adjective) – good: kind.

benign – (adjective) – will not cause harm.

From this group of words, which all have the word part ben/bene, you can see that ben/bene means good or helpful. If you know this, you can guess the meanings of other words that contain the same root. For example, you may be able to predict that the word benefactor means someone who is good or helpful – and you would be right!

Last week, I discussed how to build an excellent foundational vocabulary. However, to earn a high score on the critical reading section of the SAT, you need more than mere word power. You also need to become familiar with the common question types you will encounter on the test – and how best to approach each.

This week’s topic? Sentence completions!

Sentence completions can be cracked via the following process:

• Cover the answers and read the whole question. Think about its main idea.
• Underline clues and key words. Clues are those words and phrases that help you identify the main idea of a sentence. Key words are those words that provide critical information on the structure of the sentence; they can include contrast words like despite, although, even though, and but, or reinforcing words like since, and, and because.
• Make a guess in your own words. If you’re stumped, just write down the expected relationship between the blanks, whether it be “good/bad,” “opposite,” or “same.”
• Start eliminating answer choices that do not match your guess. If you know the answer, mark it on your answer sheet. If you’re unsure, mark the question, make your best guess, and move on.
• Read the question again with your answer included. If it doesn’t sound right, choose a different answer. SAT sentences are relentlessly logical and grammatical. The right answer will not “sort of” fit.

Let’s run through an example to illustrate the above-described process:

Hoping to __________ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ___________ to both labor and management.

(A) enforce… useful
(B) end… divisive
(C) overcome… unattractive
(D) extend… satisfactory
(E) resolve… acceptable

Cover the answers and read the whole question:

Hoping to __________ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ___________ to both labor and management.

What is the main idea of this sentence? Apparently, there was an argument between labor and management that required negotiation.

Underline clues and key words:

Hoping to __________ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ___________ to both labor and management.

Which words in the sentence helped us determine the main idea? Well, there is “the dispute,” which means argument. There are the words “negotiators” and “compromise.” And there is the phrase “both labor and management.” All of these will help us determine the purpose of the two blanks.

Make a guess in your own words:

Hoping to __end?_____ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ____okay?__ to both labor and management.

Here’s where you have to apply your logic. What are “negotiators” supposed to do? They are supposed to end arguments. What mind end an argument? A “compromise” or solution that both sides can accept may end an argument.

Start eliminating answer choices that do not match your prediction:

Hoping to __end?_____ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ____okay?__ to both labor and management.

(A) enforce… useful (enforce means to uphold, not “end”)
(B) end… divisive (end is correct, but divisive does not mean “okay”)
(C) overcome… unattractive (unattractive does not mean “okay”)
(D) extend… satisfactory (extend does not mean “end”)
(E) resolve… acceptable

In this case, the answer is relatively easy to discover. (E) is the best fit. Resolve is another word for “end,” and acceptable is another word for “okay.”

Read the question again with your answer included:

Hoping to __resolve_____ the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be ____acceptable__ to both labor and management.

That sounds good! Now you can move on to the next question.

Ideally, this sentence completion strategy should take a maximum of one minute. For easy questions (like the one above), you will probably be able to mentally run through the five-step process in less than 20 seconds. For harder questions, you will have to do more work. For example, consider the following question:

Moths are nocturnal pollinators, visiting scented flowers during the hours of darkness, whereas butterflies are ____ , attracted to bright flowers in the daytime.

(A) diurnal
(B) quotidian
(C) colorful
(D) ephemeral
(E) brilliant

The average student, in my experience, finds this question difficult. Three out of the five answer choices are words that are not used in ordinary conversation. However, we can still apply our strategy to increase our chances of guessing correctly.

Cover the answers and read the whole question:

Moths are nocturnal pollinators, visiting scented flowers during the hours of darkness, whereas butterflies are ____ , attracted to bright flowers in the daytime.

This sentence seems to be discussing the habits of butterflies and moths.

Underline clues and key words:

Moths are nocturnal pollinators, visiting scented flowers during the hours of darkness, whereas butterflies are ____ , attracted to bright flowers in the daytime.

The big key to this question stem is the word whereas. Whereas is a contrast word. It indicates that what follows is the opposite of what has come before. Thus, the word that fits in the blank is the antonym of “during the hours of darkness.”

Make a guess in your own words:

Moths are nocturnal pollinators, visiting scented flowers during the hours of darkness, whereas butterflies are _day animals___ , attracted to bright flowers in the daytime.

Using my logic and my awareness of opposites in this sentence, my guess is that the word in the blank means “is active during the day.”

Start eliminating answer choices that do not match your prediction:

Moths are nocturnal pollinators, visiting scented flowers during the hours of darkness, whereas butterflies are _day animals___ , attracted to bright flowers in the daytime.

(A) diurnal ??
(B) quotidian ??
(C) colorful (butterflies are colorful, but that has nothing to do with being active in the daytime)
(D) ephemeral ??
(E) brilliant (brilliant means bright or smart, which also has nothing to do with being active in the daytime)

If you can at least get to this point, you will still have increased your chances of guessing the right answer. Make a guess and move on.

(The answer, by the way, is (A). “Diurnal” means “active during the day.”)