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!