Parts of Speech in Two-Blank Sentences

Help Questions

PSAT Critical Reading › Parts of Speech in Two-Blank Sentences

Questions 1 - 10
1

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Johnson felt that his __________ was only a minor __________ and not a serious transgression against his marriage vows.

infidelity . . . peccadillo

fidelity . . . obstruction

temperance . . . habit

puritanism . . . hindrance

ordeal . . . bewilderment

Explanation

"Infidelity" means unfaithfulness, often to a sexual partner, while a "peccadillo" is a small sin or fault. Johnson does not seem to esteem fidelity very highly because he rates unfaithfulness to his spouse as only a minor fault.

2

Grandmother Sylvia never spoke ill of anybody that she knew or did not know. This did not prevent her from making __________ remarks about others. She merely pronounced such views in carefully crafted __________.

offensive . . . euphemisms

snide . . . prevarications

understated . . . verbiage

judgmental . . . mischaracterizations

heinous . . . epigrams

Explanation

The key here is that Sylvia covered her remarks up. "Euphemisms" are indirect expressions that avoid what would be potentially offensive words. The word comes from two Greek bases. The prefix “eu-” means good and is seen in English words like “eulogy” (good speech, a speech that presents someone else well). The second half comes from “pheme,” meaning to speak, and is seen in English words like “blaspheme” or “blasphemy.”

3

Sentence completions: select the word or pair of words that most correctly completes the sentence.

__________ by the levels of poverty in the city, the activist took it upon herself to collect essential items for the __________ in the community.

Perturbed . . . indigent

Troubled . . . affluent

Perplexed . . . despondent

Outraged . . . indignant

Explanation

Any of the words in the first blank could describe a reasonable reaction to a high level of poverty, so the second-blank words are going to determine the correct answer. We can cross off "affluent," which means wealthy (no need to add to their wealth). The city's poor may also be "despondent," or lacking hope, though other things besides poverty could also cause this state. We are left with two words that look similar, though with very different meanings: "indigent" and "indignant." The second word, "indignant," means very angry because of an injustice (a word perhaps better used to describe the activist's own motivation), while "indigent"—the correct option here—means having no money.

4

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

I am not a particularly __________ person, so I have had difficulties __________ into new communities after moving to a new city.

sociable . . . assimilating

nonchalant . . . meandering

dissolute . . . wandering

prosperous . . . rendering

dynamic . . . sequencing

Explanation

In this problem, there are few clues to help you solve for the words apart from seeing which two words fit together when plugged in for the blank terms. “Nonchalant” means not caring and “meandering” means walking indirectly; would someone who does not care about things have trouble walking indirectly? No, that makes no sense. We can eliminate that answer choice. Eventually, it should become clear that the correct answer is “sociable” and “assimilating.” “Sociable” means friendly and good at talking to people and “assimilating” means fitting in to a new culture. Would someone who is not good at talking to people have trouble fitting in a new city? Yes, that makes sense. To provide further help, “dissolute” means immoral and “wandering” means walking aimlessly; “prosperous” means successful and wealthy and “rendering” means depicting or showing; and “dynamic” means forceful or exciting and “sequencing” means putting in order.

5

Sentence completions: select the word or pair of words that most correctly completes the sentence.

__________ by the levels of poverty in the city, the activist took it upon herself to collect essential items for the __________ in the community.

Perturbed . . . indigent

Troubled . . . affluent

Perplexed . . . despondent

Outraged . . . indignant

Explanation

Any of the words in the first blank could describe a reasonable reaction to a high level of poverty, so the second-blank words are going to determine the correct answer. We can cross off "affluent," which means wealthy (no need to add to their wealth). The city's poor may also be "despondent," or lacking hope, though other things besides poverty could also cause this state. We are left with two words that look similar, though with very different meanings: "indigent" and "indignant." The second word, "indignant," means very angry because of an injustice (a word perhaps better used to describe the activist's own motivation), while "indigent"—the correct option here—means having no money.

6

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

I am not a particularly __________ person, so I have had difficulties __________ into new communities after moving to a new city.

sociable . . . assimilating

nonchalant . . . meandering

dissolute . . . wandering

prosperous . . . rendering

dynamic . . . sequencing

Explanation

In this problem, there are few clues to help you solve for the words apart from seeing which two words fit together when plugged in for the blank terms. “Nonchalant” means not caring and “meandering” means walking indirectly; would someone who does not care about things have trouble walking indirectly? No, that makes no sense. We can eliminate that answer choice. Eventually, it should become clear that the correct answer is “sociable” and “assimilating.” “Sociable” means friendly and good at talking to people and “assimilating” means fitting in to a new culture. Would someone who is not good at talking to people have trouble fitting in a new city? Yes, that makes sense. To provide further help, “dissolute” means immoral and “wandering” means walking aimlessly; “prosperous” means successful and wealthy and “rendering” means depicting or showing; and “dynamic” means forceful or exciting and “sequencing” means putting in order.

7

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The fox had predominantly __________ fur, but its fluffy tail was tipped in white and __________ down to a delicate point.

russet . . . tapered

red . . . widened

cerulean . . . narrowed

yellow . . . swelled

lavender . . . enlarged

Explanation

Because the sentence's subject is a fox and all of the available answer choices for the first blank are adjectives describing color, we need to pick out an adjective that describes a shade of red, because foxes typically have predominantly reddish fur. Either "red" or "russet" ("reddish brown in color") could be potentially correct. For the second blank, we can infer that because the fox's tail "(verb)ed down to a delicate point" that either "tapered" ("diminished or reduced or caused to diminish or reduce in thickness toward one end") or "narrowed" could be potentially correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "russet" and "tapered" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "russet . . . tapered."

8

The hike that Marty took with his friends followed a __________ route full of twists and turns, and when he began to worry that they were getting lost, he began to __________ in his backpack for the map of the area.

tortuous . . . fumble

winding . . . disregard

straightforward . . . search

uncomplicated . . . lunge

derelict . . . participate

Explanation

We can infer that because the hiking route is described as "full of twists and turns," we need to pick out an adjective for the first blank that means something like "twisting" or "turning" to describe it. Either "tortuous" ("full of twists and turns") or "winding" ("following a twisting or spiral course") could be potentially correct. For the second blank, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "search" to describe how Marty looked in his backpack for the map. Either "fumble" ("move clumsily in various directions using the hands to find one's way") or "fish" ("search, typically by groping or feeling for something concealed") could be potentially correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "tortuous" and "fumble" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "tortuous . . . fumble."

9

Choose the set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Harold commenced a __________ of strenuous studying to build up the mental __________ to complete the three-day bar examination.

regimen . . . endurance

pledge . . . catharsis

notion . . . integrity

constraint . . . sincerity

diversion . . . illumination

Explanation

The phrases “commenced,” “build up” and “complete the three-day bar examination” suggest that Harold began a systematic procedure to build up the stamina to finish a three-day exam. Only "regimen" (a systematic procedure) and "endurance" (a synonym for stamina) work for the blanks.

10

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The __________ of Andrew Jackson was infamous among politicians in his time; even after he achieved phenomenal success they could not bear his consistent __________.

arrogance . . . smugness

concentration . . . laziness

delegation . . . mollycoddling

apathy . . . gregariousness

degradation . . . excellence

Explanation

From the use of the words “infamous” and “could not bear” you know that the blanks being described are probably negative. You also know that the blanks must be similar or identical in meaning because there is no clause or conjunction indicating a change in meaning. The correct answer is therefore arrogance and smugness; this is the only answer choice in which the meanings of the two answers are similar. Delegation means to allocate tasks; mollycoddling means to pamper and spoil someone; apathy means not caring; gregariousness refers to sociability; degradation describes the squalor of something.

Page 1 of 49
Return to subject