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Example Questions
Example Question #3291 : Sat Writing
1 By now itâs common knowledge that a food may be considered unctuous in one culture may be gleaned repulsive in another. 2 Octopus is one such food. 3 It valorizes its audiences, with some gourmands claiming its rubbery texture is unpalatable, others enjoying the unusual taste. 4 Itâs cousin, squid, is known as âcalamari,â and is also popular in many countries.5 Octopus can be fried in batter, roasted with herbs, steamed and sprinkled with paprika, serve it raw in sushi, or even eat it alive. 6 But be careful: The head of the octopusâ can be poisonous!
In Sentence 1, what word should replace âunctuous?â
unctuous (no change)
carnivorous
scrumptious
hazardous
lascivious
scrumptious
Based on context clues, weâre looking for an antonym of ârepulsive.â âScrumptious,â or delicious, is that antonym. âUnctuous,â on the other hand, means overly flattering or greasy.
Example Question #3292 : Sat Writing
1 By now itâs common knowledge that a food may be considered unctuous in one culture may be gleaned repulsive in another. 2 Octopus is one such food. 3 It valorizes its audiences, with some gourmands claiming its rubbery texture is unpalatable, others enjoying the unusual taste. 4 Itâs cousin, squid, is known as âcalamari,â and is also popular in many countries.5 Octopus can be fried in batter, roasted with herbs, steamed and sprinkled with paprika, serve it raw in sushi, or even eat it alive. 6 But be careful: The head of the octopusâ can be poisonous!
In Sentence 1, what word should replace âgleaned?â
gleaned (no change)
pined
famed
deemed
espied
deemed
To âgleanâ is to extract information from something; to âdeemâ is to consider or regard something. Since sentence 1 is discussing how octopus is regarded in various cultures, "deem" is by far the most appropriate word choice.
Example Question #3293 : Sat Writing
1 By now itâs common knowledge that a food may be considered unctuous in one culture may be gleaned repulsive in another. 2 Octopus is one such food. 3 It valorizes its audiences, with some gourmands claiming its rubbery texture is unpalatable, others enjoying the unusual taste. 4 Itâs cousin, squid, is known as âcalamari,â and is also popular in many countries.5 Octopus can be fried in batter, roasted with herbs, steamed and sprinkled with paprika, serve it raw in sushi, or even eat it alive. 6 But be careful: The head of the octopusâ can be poisonous!
In Sentence 3, what word should replace âvalorizes?â
qualifies
deifies
lionizes
polarizes
valorizes (no change)
polarizes
This is a tricky one, but we can use the context to figure out that audiences will be divided into two camps on this issue. To "polarize" something is to cause its components to take opposite sides, so this is the best choice for the sentence.
Example Question #144 : Rewriting A Single Word
1 Punk rock developed in the mid-1970s. 2 It was a musical movement that arose out of antiauthoritarian garage bands.3 It was characterized by fast-paced songs, sedimentary lyrics, and a raw loud sound. 4 And often its lyrics were also political. 5 Some of the most famous punk rock bands came from England and the United States and including the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones.
6 Punk bands tending to convince a liberal, anti-establishment, sensibility,and they were proponents of individualism, freedom, and nonconformity.7 (Later in the 1990s âriot grrrlâ bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney used their punk music to draw attention on feminist concerns.)8 Now you can find, punk bands in cities all around the world.9 By the 1980s, the public was beginning to accept punk music, slowly becoming mainstream.
In Sentence 3, what word should replace âsedimentary?â
clastic
sedimentary (no change)
bituminous
alluvial
defiant
defiant
The word âdefiant,â or rebellious, works well in the context, since weâve just read that punk rock was characterized by an antiauthoritarian attitude. Itâs also the only word that works well in the sentence, since all the other words are geologic terms and therefore canât describe song lyrics.
Example Question #3291 : Sat Writing
1 If youâve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, itâs likely youâve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for âhydraulic fracturingâ and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
In Sentence 3, what word could replace âdependence?â
sufficiency
reliance
sovereignty
autonomy
independence
reliance
While âdependenceâ is fine in Sentence 3, âreliance,â a direct synonym, would also be an excellent substitute. All of the other words are antonyms or close antonyms.
Example Question #145 : Rewriting A Single Word
1 If youâve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, itâs likely youâve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for âhydraulic fracturingâ and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
In Sentence 6, what word should replace âinquired?â
inquired
lacquered
perspired
imputed
modified
imputed
âImputed,â or attributed, is the only word that makes sense in this sentence. âInquiredâ means asked about, âperspiredâ means sweated, âmodifiedâ means changed, and âlacqueredâ means varnished.
Example Question #3294 : Sat Writing
1 By now itâs common knowledge that a food may be considered unctuous in one culture may be gleaned repulsive in another. 2 Octopus is one such food. 3 It valorizes its audiences, with some gourmands claiming its rubbery texture is unpalatable, others enjoying the unusual taste. 4 Itâs cousin, squid, is known as âcalamari,â and is also popular in many countries.5 Octopus can be fried in batter, roasted with herbs, steamed and sprinkled with paprika, serve it raw in sushi, or even eat it alive. 6 But be careful: The head of the octopusâ can be poisonous!
In Sentence 3, what word should replace âgourmands?â
oligarchs
hierophants
heretics
gourmands (no change)
curates
gourmands (no change)
A "gourmand" is a connoisseur of good food, which is the perfect noun for this sentence. All the other words describe religious jobs or positions and are not related to food.
Example Question #125 : Increasing The Contextual Relevance Of A Single Word
1 If youâve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, itâs likely youâve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for âhydraulic fracturingâ and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
In Sentence 2, what word should replace âquerulously?â
testily
readily
querulously (no change)
sullenly
petulantly
readily
One could infer that the word weâre looking for is a synonym of easily, and âreadilyâ fits that meaning. âQuerulously,â âpetulantly,â âtestily,â and âsullenlyâ all convey ideas of grumpiness or bad temper.
Example Question #3295 : Sat Writing
1 If youâve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, itâs likely youâve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for âhydraulic fracturingâ and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
In Sentence 2, what word should replace âfractals?â
crevices
fractals
antidotes
alimonies
terminals
crevices
Weâre looking for a synonym of âfractures,â or cracks, and that synonym is âcrevices.â âFractalsâ are a distinctive, iterative mathematical pattern that have nothing to do with the topic of fracking.
Example Question #3296 : Sat Writing
1 If youâve watched any environmental news reports in the last few years, itâs likely youâve stumbled among the idea of fracking. 2 The word is short for âhydraulic fracturingâ and involves injecting liquid into rock to create fractures and fractals, there allowing natural gas to be extracted more querulously.3 Proponents say the method facilitates oil drilling and allows countries, like the United States, to cut back on their foreign oil dependence. 4 Amateurs say that fracking, causes significant and sometimes irresponsible environmental damage.
5 Fracking can require sonorous quantities of water, and leach dangerous carcinogenic chemicals into the groundwater. 6 Some people have even inquired minor earthquakes to fracking: as the process thought to spurn tremors.7 Perhaps most worrisome, fracking allows governments to continue depending on fossil fuel rather than exploring renewable energy. 8 These sources could include wind turbines, solar panels, even hot springs and waterwheels.
In Sentence 2, what word should replace âthere?â
somewhere
where
there
their
thereby
thereby
âThereby,â which means in that manner or as a result of that, is the only word that fits before âallowing.â
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