ISEE Lower Level Verbal Reasoning › Phrase- and Clause-Based Sentence Completions
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Most great basketball players attend college before entering the NBA, but that famous player __________.
became a professional directly after high school
studied biology at a university near his hometown
has a degree from a prestigious college
worked at a restaurant to pay for his tuition
We know that most NBA players go to college before becoming professionals, but the word "but" tells us that this was not true for the player in question. This implies that unlike the other athletes, this player did not attend college. The statement that he "became a professional directly out of high school" is the only one that makes sense here—the other statements state that he did go to college.
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Most great basketball players attend college before entering the NBA, but that famous player __________.
became a professional directly after high school
studied biology at a university near his hometown
has a degree from a prestigious college
worked at a restaurant to pay for his tuition
We know that most NBA players go to college before becoming professionals, but the word "but" tells us that this was not true for the player in question. This implies that unlike the other athletes, this player did not attend college. The statement that he "became a professional directly out of high school" is the only one that makes sense here—the other statements state that he did go to college.
Sentence completion: Select the word or phrase that best completes the following sentence.
As the sickness spreads __________.
more doctors are needed
people are calming down
the government becomes less anxious
medicine is becoming cheaper
fewer people seem to care
To solve this problem you have to determine what would be most likely to occur as a "sickness" (disease) spreads. The correct answer is that " . . . more doctors are needed" to care for the sick people. All the other answer choices are things that would be highly unlikely to occur in the event of a widespread disease. For example, it would likely make medicine more expensive, not cheaper. Additionally, "anxious" means worried.
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
__________ to give to this mother.
He is picking flowers
He is eating cake
He is playing quietly
He was performing a play
He spoke loudly
In this question you are told that a boy is doing something " . . . to give to his mother." You know it is a boy because of the pronoun "his." So, which of these answer choices best makes sense as something a boy would give to his mother? The correct answer is "He is picking flowers . . . "
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
He tried to lighten the mood __________.
by cracking jokes
by picking on his friends
yet succeeded
with his cruel punishment
because people were so happy
If the subject was trying to "lighten the mood" (make things seem less serious, cheer people up) then it makes sense that he would do so " . . . by cracking jokes."
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The runner did not ____________ prepare for the race and was therefore not in good enough shape to run the full course.
sufficiently
regularly
energetically
heedfully
athletically
The key expression in the sentence is not in good enough shape. This means that the runner did not prepare enough to be in good shape for race day. Therefore, his or her training was not sufficient. To "suffice" means to be enough. The opposite of something that is sufficient is something that is _in_sufficient.
Sentence completion: Select the word or phrase that best completes the following sentence.
As the sickness spreads __________.
more doctors are needed
people are calming down
the government becomes less anxious
medicine is becoming cheaper
fewer people seem to care
To solve this problem you have to determine what would be most likely to occur as a "sickness" (disease) spreads. The correct answer is that " . . . more doctors are needed" to care for the sick people. All the other answer choices are things that would be highly unlikely to occur in the event of a widespread disease. For example, it would likely make medicine more expensive, not cheaper. Additionally, "anxious" means worried.
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
It was freezing in the house __________.
so they lit a fire
so they took off their clothes
so they ate lots of ice-cream
and they decided never to leave
before keeping their clothes on
To begin with "freezing" means very cold. So, to solve this problem you need to determine which of these answer choices is the most logical reaction to it being very cold in the house. The correct answer then is " . . . so they lit a fire."
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
It was freezing in the house __________.
so they lit a fire
so they took off their clothes
so they ate lots of ice-cream
and they decided never to leave
before keeping their clothes on
To begin with "freezing" means very cold. So, to solve this problem you need to determine which of these answer choices is the most logical reaction to it being very cold in the house. The correct answer then is " . . . so they lit a fire."
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
__________ to give to this mother.
He is picking flowers
He is eating cake
He is playing quietly
He was performing a play
He spoke loudly
In this question you are told that a boy is doing something " . . . to give to his mother." You know it is a boy because of the pronoun "his." So, which of these answer choices best makes sense as something a boy would give to his mother? The correct answer is "He is picking flowers . . . "