Nouns and Adjectives or Adverbs in Two-Blank Sentences - PSAT Critical Reading

"Cacophony" means a tremendous, disharmonious noise, while "disgruntled" means upset or not content. Understandably, people who had come to hear music would be upset that a recital was interrupted by a disharmonious noise.

"Antithesis" means the exact opposite, while "beholden" means owing something to another, such as allegiance. A person who argues that power determines what is right and wrong would believe the exact opposite of his or her friend who believes in a higher law to which we must all be loyal.

"Provocation" means something that incites, while "irascible" means easily angered. A little brother who is quick to anger would certainly require little incitement to start screaming for his mother.

"Propensity" means inclination, while "grandiose" means characterized by greatness of scope or intent. A man who frequently makes statements like having invented letters of the alphabet would certainly have an inclination for statements of remarkable scope.

A "novice" is a beginner or someone without training or experience, while "ingenuous" means candid and innocent. Naturally, the master would only be touched by praise that was innocent and candid.

That a school subject is popular even though it has another characteristic tells us that characteristic should be negative. "Burdensome" and "strenuous" would both work. This makes the options for the second blank "intricacies" and "prowess." "Intricacies" makes more sense in the context of this sentence, because it indicates complexity, where "prowess" indicates skill.

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.”

Platitudes are expressions that have been so overused that they really have no meaning—the “wisdom” that really is nothing but repetition of familiar remarks. At best, the reasoning behind the use of such expressions is “surface level deep” or “superficial,” which means lacking depth or profundity—literally “only on the top (super-) layer (-ficial).”

Since the assets were free from interference, they were isolated. The word “insulated” does not merely indicate the process of installing material to prevent energy from being transferred from one area to another. It also can indicate any such isolation of forces. The word is derived from the Latin word “insula,” which means “island.” The English word, “insular,” is similarly derived.

The word “parity”, indicating a state of equality, is derived from the Latin “pars,” meaning equal. The same root is reflected in English words like “disparity,” “pair,” and even “subpar.”

The key to getting this question correct is noting the options for the first blank. The sense here is not directly depression but instead is that of being of a bleak and sullen temperament. “Morose” best fits this usage. Although “lamentation” can have the sense of weeping, it also can indicate the expression of sorrow in general, so the word still fits—at least better than the other options, which is all that is needed.

If something is “hermetic” it is sealed totally—often in the sense of being air-tight, though (as in our sentence) it can mean that something is sealed from outside influences. If the mountains thus seal the community from outside world, they are “obstructions” in the way of potential passage.

Someone is "wary" when he or she shows caution in the face of any possibly dangerous situation. Given that he had been duped in the past, it makes sense that Joseph could be said to be wary; however, do not be fooled by the sentence into thinking there should be a negative sense to the second word. There is nothing that implies that any future converse will be negative—even if he is wary. All that we can say is that he is careful when any proposal comes to his company.

The two blank words should demonstrate opposing feelings concerning the upcoming test. They should convey that Aaron at first felt unsure that he would do well at first and then believed in his abilities more after he prepared. The only choice that shows this is "misgivings . . . confident."

The first word should most closely be related to the word “forgiveness” later in the sentence, while the second should be closely related to the word “heinous.” "Absolution . . . reprehensible" is the only answer that fits here.

We cannot say if Elizabeth was “dolorous” in her observation of these rules; however, it is fair to say that obsessive care would lead one to avoiding the mildest breach of conduct; therefore, the best pair is “scrupulously . . . infraction.” (Note that “regularly” just is not quite as strong as “scrupulously”).

A scrupulous person is very attentive to details, often from a fear of doing anything wrong. An "infraction" is a violation. The word is related to other “-fring-” and “-fract-” words like “infringe,” “fracture,” and “fragile”—all related to “breaking” because of their common Latin roots.

It is necessary to pay careful attention to both words in this sentence, as there are several tempting options. Based merely on the first blank, it would seem that “erratic,” “variable,” and “mercurial” are all options; however, the second sentence makes a contrast specifically to “fabulously wealthy.”

The word “pauper” fits best in this regard. It is related to words like “poverty,” coming from a related Latin base. The word “erratic” is related to other words like “error” or “errant,” words derived from a Latin base meaning to go astray or mistake. “Erratic” comes more from the go astray meaning (in the sense of wandering).

So long as you know that “egalitarian” views are those that lead one to judge that all people are equal, you will have an easy time answering this question. Note that the “eg” and the “eq” sounds are actually very close, and that is why this shift occurs in the common base. The second word, “irreducibility” merely means that some given things cannot be explained in terms of another. The “i(r)-” prefix merely indicates a negation of the remaining “reducibility.”

The key word is rather inconspicuous: “original.” This helps to give a sense to what precedes the “passage of time.” The “inception” of something is its beginning, and it is related to many “-cep-” and “-cap-” words like “conception,” “reception,” and “exception.” If something is “ossified” it has become hard and inflexible. The meaning is derived from the Latin for bone.

With the exception of “economics,” all of the other options for the first word are some how involved with the pricing of goods. The implication of the first sentence is that the laws of supply and demand, while important, are not ultimate. Instead, there is something closer to the reality of pricing.

The word “radically” might surprise you at first. Consider the following: “That decision from the legislature radically changed the nature of the country’s notion of self-government.” Here, “radically” describes a significant change. The word originally comes from the Latin for “root,” reflected in words like “radish” as well as “eradicate” (to take up from its very roots); therefore, to say that something is “radically founded” on something else is to say that it “has its roots” therein—that is, it is closer and more fundamentally related to that.

We know that the food ran out very quickly at the party, so there mustn't have been very much of it. Knowing this, we should pick an adjective for the first blank that is a synonym of little. Both "meager" and "minuscule" could work, leaving us to decide between "dearth" and "malady" for the second blank. For the second blank, we're looking for a noun that conveys the lack of available snacks after the food ran out. Since "dearth" means lack or shortage and "malady" means disease or ailment, "dearth" is the better choice, and the answer is "meager . . . dearth."