The sat critical reading section 3 pptx

27. Mr. Ford never seems affected by joy or grief;
similarly, his son has developed the same
nature.
a. passionate
b. tolerant
c. optimistic
d. adroit
e. stoic
28. Due to the nature of Alice’s tears, she
soon found herself in a pool of salty water.
a. copious
b. conspicuous
c. consolable
d. humane
e. tenable
29. Despite Doug’s to the instruction man-
ual, he found it impossible to properly assemble
his desk.
a. complication
b. predicament
c. instability
d. partition
e. fidelity
30. Daphne always did what she was expected to do;
therefore, it was an that she joined the
circus when it came through town.
a. obfuscation
b. anomaly
c. achievement
d. imposition
e. exhortation

31. Durwood was born with no discernible musical
talent; however, his play very well.
a. misnomer
b. hasps
c. progeny
d. prosecutors
e. truants
32. The nation’s new rulers tried very hard to
all former influences; for example, they
all officials with any trace of influence over the
people.
a. insinuate surmounted
b. purge ousted
c. explicate castigated
d. debrief continued
e. cover installed
33. Children of the tribe were brought up with one
prime ; namely to their elders and
ancestors.
a. policy polish
b. errand cherish
c. reward discourage
d. dictum venerate
e. interest inculcate
34. Chelsea forgot to mail her payment for the park-
ing ticket; thus, her was late.
a. extrication
b. palliation
c. remittance
d. precedent

e. dichotomy
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35. Troy was devastated that he lost the wrestling
championship, yet he found some in the
fact that it was his best effort.
a. solace
b. attitude
c. ambition
d. decimation
e. prevalence
36. At the reunion, one led to another; and
the old friends ended up telling stories all night.
a. meal
b. allegory
c. insurgency
d. anecdote
e. bereavement
37. As a teen, Jacob really despised doing his chores;
in fact, he considered them a(n) rather
than a natural part of daily life.
a. exoneration
b. reward
c. amercement
d. pretense
e. noxious
38. Because he wanted to his counting error,
Finn took the inventory all over again.
a. rectify

b. exacerbate
c. indemnify
d. undulate
e. masticate
39. Though Paul had been banned from all school
functions, he sent Devon as his to stir up
trouble.
a. posse
b. surrogate
c. template
d. genome
e. missionary
40. Professor Atkins refused to his point;
consequently most of his students misunder-
stood what he had said.
a. palliate
b. capitulate
c. elucidate
d. conduct
e. elongate
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Sentence Completion Answers
Remember, if you don’t know a vocabulary word found
in these questions, look it up and learn it.
1. b. The complete unit of this sentence sets up a
relationship of contrast, signaled by the word
although. The correct word is tenacity, which

means the ability to stick to something.
2. d. The word likewise signals a comparison in this
sentence. However, the word boor (an ill-
mannered person) is in a position of compari-
son to the word you’re looking for. You have to
notice that a boor would not be admitted to
the salon (a sort of club for conversation),
whereas the blank calls for a kind of person
who would be admitted.
3. c. In other words is a phrase that indicates a
restatement, so you are looking for another
word for sophisticated. That word is urbane.
4. b. This is a cause and effect sentence. You have to
determine what kind of replies would result in
a scathing newspaper review. Contumelious is
the only word that fits the bill.
5. a. This double blank sentence has a contrasting
relationship between its two main parts. The
phrase that begins with as, the second unit, is
the clue to both the first blank (it indicates a
restatement of the first unit) and the second
blank. The word but indicates the contrast
between the first sentence unit and the third
unit. The only answer choice that fits both
blanks is a, consummate and garrulous.
6. e. The word but might seem to signal a contrast
within this sentence, but when you see the
word similarly, you know that it is actually a
statement of comparison.
7. c. Namely is the word that indicates a restatement

in this sentence. A manufacturer can secure
repeat business through planned obsolescence.
8. a. Was due to indicates cause and effect. A cryptic
mode of communication would prevent
understanding.
9. c. Although expresses the idea of contrast.
Although James went to Miami to benefit
from—most likely, the positive effects of the
warm weather—his health did not improve.
Salubrious is the only answer the makes sense
in the context of the sentence.
10. b. The word therefore signals cause and effect.
The only answer that sets up that relationship
is epitome and exempted.
11. e. This sentence is a comparison, as you can tell
by the use of the phrase for example. The cor-
rect answer choice is
pallor.
12. a. A relationship of cause and effect here is sig-
naled by the words lead to. The only word that
makes sense here is fastidious.
13. d. The word however indicates a contrasting rela-
tionship between the sentence units. Rancor is
the answer.
14. e. The use of as asindicates a comparison.
However, you have to look for clues in the sec-
ond unit of the sentence to tell you what kind
of comparison is being made. A cat burglar
who was never caught would be both furtive
and larcenous.

15. c. The phrase for instance indicates that an exam-
ple of what was stated in the previous clause is
about to follow. Therefore, being allowed to
take clients to the most expensive restaurant in
town to help close a deal is an example of carte
blanche in this particular situation.
16. b. Thus is a word that signals cause and effect.
An impediment is an obstacle, so refusing to
admit impediments would lead to overcoming
obstacles.
17. e. But is a word that sets up contrast, so the
reader has to determine what word would be
most opposite in meaning to someone who
was inconsolable after losing her job.
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18. c. Cause and effect in this sentence is set up by
the word because. Her parents found it hard to
believe she seldom spoke in class, so the
answer is loquacious (talkative).
19. d. Though is a signal word for contrast. The word
to contrast with is complained. Look for the
word that contrasts with a reason to complain
about music. The answer is (barely) audible.
20. b.
The key words in the question are
despite
and
managed

. Those two words together suggest a
breaking of expectations of failure (as opposed
to
managed
). Think of the question as: Despite
(whatever), (whoever) managed to reach (some-
thing). Now you know what happens in the sen-
tence:
Despite
(their

viewpoints), (the
delegates)
managed to reach
(a

). For the
sentence to make sense, the word in the first
blank needs to set up a conflict with the second
word. You wouldn’t expect delegates with
dis-
parate
viewpoints to be able to reach a
consen-
sus,
so those two words work in the sentence.
None of the other pairs works.
21. c. The signal word in this sentence is therefore,
so it is a cause and effect sentence. The sec-
ond clause provides a bigger clue to the cor-

rect answer than the first clause does. If it is
“no surprise” that a “political discourse,” or
discussion at a party, escalated into a “full-
blown ,” that means that whatever
happened was expected. What happened was
most likely a fight, since a discussion “esca-
lated into” something else. This means that
the two siblings must have a quarrelsome
nature, making choices c, d, and e possibili-
ties and ruling out the others. But, because
we now know that their quarrelsome nature
led to a fight, we can rule out choice d—a
“full-blown reverie”—makes no sense, and
choice e, as a “full-blown analysis” doesn’t
make sense in the given context either.
22. d. Although is a word that signals a contrasting
relationship. Monetary benevolence is some-
thing you might not expect from someone on
a fixed income and is, therefore, the correct
answer.
23. e. The word likewise signals a comparison. Banal
is the word that is comparable to a poorly writ-
ten gossip magazine.
24. d. In other words indicates restatement. The sec-
ond clause gives an example of what it means
to be an aficionado of baseball.
25. b. The phrase as a result signals cause and effect.
Protracted and pinnacle is the correct answer.
26. e. But indicates contrast. Mayor is a key word,
indicating a move toward an elected office.

Electorate is the best choice.
27. e. The word similarly indicates comparison. This
means that if Mr. Ford never seems affected
by joy or grief, then his son doesn’t either.
Stoic is the only word that makes sense in this
context.
28. a. Due to is a phrase that shows cause and effect.
Only copious tears would lead to a pool of
water.
29. e. The word despite shows a contrast between the
two units of the sentence. Fidelity is the cor-
rect answer because it is the only word that
sets up a contrast with the impossibility of the
assembly job.
30. b. This sentence is a little more complicated.
Therefore sets up a cause and effect relation-
ship; but the two units of the sentence contrast
with each other, as a girl who always did what
she was supposed to would be unlikely to join
the circus impulsively. The correct answer,
then, is anomaly.
31. c. However signals a contrasting relationship
between the two sentence units. The only
answer that works when inserted in the blank
is progeny, which means offspring.
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32. b. The phrase for example signals a comparative
relationship, so you are looking for words that

will express such a relationship in the sen-
tence. In this case, the best strategy is to plug
word pairs into the blanks. The words that fit
the bill are purge and ousted.
33. d. Namely sets up a restatement. The sentence
calls for a positive action word in the second
blank, so you can eliminate three choices right
away. Then look for the better word for the first
blank.
Dictum

venerate
is the correct choice.
34. c. Thus signals cause and effect. The correct
choice is remittance, which is another word for
payment.
35. a. The word yet indicates a contrasting relation-
ship. Someone who is devastated might need
solace.
36. d. The word and normally signals a complemen-
tary relationship. In this sentence, however,
the word therefore is implied after the and.
This tells you that whatever goes in the blank
leads to telling stories all night. The correct
answer, then, is anecdote.
37. e. In fact signals restatement or that an example
will follow. If Jacob despised doing chores, it
makes sense that he would consider them an
amercement, or a punishment.
38. a. The word because signals cause and effect. An

error calls for a correction. The correct answer
is rectify, meaning to correct.
39. b. Though signals a contrasting relationship.
Someone who has been banned cannot attend
and so would need to send someone in his
place. The correct answer is surrogate, mean-
ing substitute.
40. c. Cause and effect is indicated here by the word
consequently. A lack of explanation, or elucida-
tion, would lead to misunderstanding. Conse-
quently, the correct answer is elucidate.
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Part 2: Reading Is Critical
There are approximately 40 long-passage critical read-
ing questions on the SAT. Each Critical Reading sec-
tion contains at least one long passage, followed by
questions about the passage. Passages are excerpted
from writings in the fields of literature, humanities,
and social and natural sciences. There is no poetry.
Each passage is between 400 and 850 words in length,
and there will be between 5 and 13 questions after
each one.
In one critical reading section of the exam, there
will be a set of two long passages. These two passages
will complement each other in some way. Most often,
they will present either supporting or opposing points
of view. Some of the questions about these passages will

require that you be able to analyze similarities and dif-
ferences between the two passages.
Many of the reading comprehension questions
are vocabulary-related. You can think of them as a vari-
ation on sentence completion questions, asking you
to determine the meaning of a word or phrase in con-
text. Sometimes, the test-makers ask about fairly com-
mon words that have multiple uses and ask you to
choose the correct meaning or shade of meaning. Most
often, the answer will be a more obscure meaning of the
commonly used word.
Other reading comprehension questions test your
ability to understand what you read. SAT passages are
usually complex, densely packed with ideas; and many
are somewhat overwhelming at first glance. You will be
asked to extract information that may be stated explic-
itly or implied. In other words, a passage may contain
arguments with underlying assumptions, which you
will be asked to uncover. You will be asked about the
logical flow of the texts and about their consistency or
lack thereof. You may also have to answer questions
about the tone of the passages as well as their overall
theme or meaning.
Fortunately, the skills you are learning for the
sentence completion questions will also serve you well
for the reading comprehension questions. Additionally,
learning to make sense of complex passages will make
your college career even more successful.
Ready, Set, Read!
If you are already skilled at quickly reading and under-

standing dense prose, good for you! If not, try this
approach. Feel free to adapt it and change it to suit your
needs and temperament. There’s no one “right”way to
read. The right way to do all of these things is the way
that works for you; so as you practice, try variations on
the method to see what suits you.
Every reading comprehension passage has a short
one- to three-sentence introduction. This introduc-
tion will provide you with some context for the passage
as a whole, so read it first. Occasionally, there will be a
question that requires knowledge of this introduction,
so read it carefully.
Now you may want to skim the passage for its
subject matter. With practice, you will find that topic
sentences and key adjectives will practically leap out
and grab your attention. Be sure to keep your pencil
poised to write as you read. You will want to mark key
words and phrases as you see them.
Next, read the passage all the way through. As you
finish each paragraph, determine its main idea. Then,
jot a word or phrase that expresses that idea in the
margin of your test booklet. This is a note to yourself,
which will enable you to easily find sections of the pas-
sage later and quickly tie the separate paragraphs into
a coherent whole.
As you read the passage, mark any words or
phrases that seem particularly important or expres-
sive. Often, adjectives that set a mood or tone will help
you understand the author’s meaning, so underline
them or jot them down in the margin. It’s also impor-

tant to note the location of details that support the
author’s main point(s).
Of course, you were paying attention in English
class when the teacher discussed topic sentences, so
you know that most well-written paragraphs have at
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