2010 PSAT - Wednesday - Section 3 (Reading)

The following are TestTakers' suggestions for solving the Sentence Completions on the October 13th, 2010 PSAT, Section 3 (a reading section). (For help with the passages, call or email your Site Director. We'll be happy to help out!) Click "Read More" to view!


25. Clue phrase: "native land"
Anticipation: "native"

Answer: (C) indigenous [boxword 184!]
[beneficial (helpful) is boxword 137!]

26. Clue phrase: "certain books are selling better than others"

Anticipation (first blank): "based on comparison"
Eliminate: (A), (B) (prescriptive = giving directions)
Anticipation (second blank): "definite, conclusive"
Eliminate: (C) (dynamic = energetic), (E) (gratuitous = unnecessary)

Answer: (D) comparative...absolute (definite)

27. Clue phrase: "losing most of the funding"

Anticipation: "stop"

Answer: (C) curtail (cut short)
[recant (take back a statement) is boxword 124!]

28. Clue phrases: "might make people prone to hypertension," "others, by contrast"
Anticipation (first blank): "hurts" regulation [because it leads to hypertension, which is bad]

Eliminate: (A), (B)
Anticipation (second blank): "denies, negates"
Eliminate: (C) (buttress (support) is boxword 292!), (D)

Answer: (E) impairs (hurts)...minimizes
[diminish (reduce) is boxword 309!]

29. Clue words: "previously unquestioned," "are now"
Anticipation: "questionable"

Answer: (E) apocryphal (doubtful, false)