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SAT Sentence Completions
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Sentence Completions account for about 25 percent of the questions on the Verbal section, about 19 out of 78 questions in all.

Sentence Completions test your ability to follow the logic of a sentence. You are given a sentence with one or two words missing. Your job is to pick the answer choice with the word, or words, that best fill the blank(s). Although many Sentence Completions deal with "factoids" of various subjects, you don't need any outside knowledge to answer these questions—in fact, bringing outside content knowledge to bear on these questions will probably only cause problems for you. All the information you'll need to answer a question will be right there in the sentence itself.

Begin each question by reading through the sentence strategically, that is, trying to see where the sentence is heading. As you read, be on the lookout for "structural roadsigns"—words like "and", "since", "thus", "because", "although" and "nevertheless." These words, and others like them, will help you figure out the logic of the sentence. Words like "and" and "since" signal that one part of the sentence supports, elaborates on, or is consistent with another part. Words like "but" or "although" signal that one part of the sentence will contradict or qualify another part—they serve to move the sentence in another direction.

Based upon the structural roadsigns and descriptive phrases in the sentence, you should generally be able to predict what words could go in the blanks before you get to the answer choices. You should then pick the answer choice that best matches your prediction.

Sample Question #1

Directions: The sentence below has one or two blanks, each blank indicating that a word or set of words has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five lettered words or sets of words. You are to choose the word or set of words that, when inserted into the sentence, best fits in with the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

While the aphorism "beauty is only skin deep" is often repeated, the growing ----- of cosmetic surgery among mainstream consumers belies Americans' purported lack of concern for ----- beauty.

incidence .. inner
popularity .. surface
affordability .. fading
controversy .. comparative
stereotype .. perfect



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