Tip #5 to Get a Top SAT Critical Reading Score

If there are two blanks in the sentence, get excited. Some people think that these must be harder, but they are actually much easier! Using the process of elimination, we are looking for wrong answers to cross out, so two blanks offer two opportunities to whittle the choices down. This means you can get questions correct even when you don't know a bunch of the vocabulary words!

When you see two blanks, answer one blank at a time. Start with whichever seems easier, usually the second. Think of a word you'd like to see for the blank. Eliminate choices that don't work. When you cross them out, cross out the whole answer choice, not just the one word. If one blank doesn't fit, it doesn't matter how good or bad the word for the other blank is.

Remember from Skill 4, cross off only answer choices that are definitely wrong. Leave any choices that could work or that you don't know. Then do the same for the other blank. Often, you are left with only one choice—the correct answer. If there are two or more choices left, try each pair of words in the sentence and choose the pair that fits best in the sentence.

Let's look at this question:

Solution: The second blank is easier; we need a word like "nonjudgmental."

cultivate . . nonreactive—Yes, "nonreactive" is similar.
lose . . unbiased—Yes, "unbiased" is a synonym for "nonjudgmental."
reduce . . safe—Maybe, "safe" does not fit well, but I wouldn't eliminate it yet.
~~build . . lavish~~—Nope, "lavish" means "generous" and is not related to "nonjudgmental."
~~grow . . deleterious~~—Nope, "deleterious" sounds like "delete" and means "harmful."

We are left with A, B, and C. Now, think of a word for the first blank, perhaps "increase."

cultivate . . nonreactive—Yes, "cultivate" means "develop" which is similar to "increase."
~~lose . . unbiased~~—No, "lose" does not mean "increase," it's almost the opposite.
~~reduce . . safe~~—Nope, "reduce" does not mean "increase," it's almost the opposite.

Correct answer: A

Example Problems

Each sentence below has two blanks, each indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath each sentence are five sets of words labeled A through E. Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Medium

More influential and effective than any fraternity president before him, Reisner has _____ the tone for all subsequent of _____ the organization.
1. provided . . defacers
2. undermined . . antagonists
3. set . . leaders
4. reduced . . fellowships
5. qualified . . critics
The SAT author so impressed students with his jokes and lucid style that they wrote rave reviews of his book on Amazon that praised his _____ and _____ .
1. wittiness . . obtuseness
2. humor . . clarity
3. cleverness . . intemperance
4. redolence . . eloquence
5. practicality . . rhetoric
Shortly after they began hiking into the scorchingly hot badlands of South Dakota, Zach and Rachel realized that the hike, instead of being _____, might be _____ and exhausting.
1. strenuous . . insular
2. grueling . . forbidding
3. effortless . . amiable
4. forbidding . . fascinating
5. undemanding . . arduous
The two biographies of abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock were published at the same time, so while _____ between the two is inevitable, all critics feel that Bak's is far superior and far _____ the other.
1. comparison . . outclasses
2. enmity . . rivals
3. harmony . . outshines
4. opacity . . surpasses
5. rigidity . . allays

Hard

Jimbo's teachers labeled him a(n) _____ because he constantly challenged authority and tradition; he deeply disliked _____.
1. sycophant . . followers
2. tyrant . . autocrats
3. gadfly . . connoisseurs
4. iconoclast . . conformity
5. gourmand . . toadies

Answers

C "Subsequent" means "later." So Reisner's work set the tone for later leaders.
B If you don't know "lucid," cross it out. He impressed them with "jokes" and "style," so they praised him for his "humor" and "clarity." Notice that the two words are in parallel structure—they are in the same order both times. The SAT always follows parallel structure.
E Use the process of elimination. The second blank must be something like "exhausting," and the first blank is the opposite, something like "not exhausting."
A For the second blank we want something like "superior." When you absolutely can't think of a word to fill the other blank, just try the choices.
D Use the process of elimination. The first blank must be a word for a person who challenges authority. Cross out any that are definitely wrong. The second blank must mean "authority and tradition." Cross out any that are definitely wrong. Then choose the best from the remaining choices.

Go to: Tip #6

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