1 · What the question looks like
Each question is a sentence with a blank. Choose the word or phrase that best completes it. The sentence always contains a clue that points to one answer.
Example: "The library was so ______ that you could hear a pencil drop." The clue "hear a pencil drop" points to quiet.
2 · Fill the blank yourself first
Cover the choices and put your own word in the blank. It does not need to be fancy; "quiet", "happy", or "said no" is enough.
Then pick the choice closest to your word. This keeps you from being pulled toward a choice that only sounds good.
3 · Restatement clues
Often the sentence says the same idea twice. "Marco was ______; he never once gave up, even after the third rainstorm." The second half explains the blank: determined.
Colons, semicolons, and commas followed by "which" or "that is" usually introduce a restatement.
4 · Contrast clues
although, but, however, yet, instead, despite, unlike, even though signal an opposite. "Although the puppy looked ______, it was very gentle." Gentle is contrasted, so the blank is the opposite: fierce.
5 · Cause-and-effect clues
because, since, so, as a result, therefore link a reason to what happened. "Because the bridge was ______, the town closed it to cars." A bridge gets closed when it is unsafe: damaged or unstable.
6 · Positive or negative?
Decide whether the blank needs a good word or a bad word. "The critics ______ the movie, calling it the worst of the year." Negative: criticized, not "praised".
Crossing out the choices with the wrong feeling often leaves only one or two.
7 · Two blanks
Some questions have two blanks. Work on the blank with the stronger clue first and cross out choices whose first or second word fails.
"The ______ hikers were ______ to reach the shelter before dark." Tired hikers would be relieved, so look for a pair like exhausted … relieved.
8 · Traps
A choice can be a real word that goes with the topic but does not fit the clue. In a sentence about a desert, "sandy" may tempt you even when the clue is about temperature.
Read the whole sentence with your answer in it. If it sounds strange or says something the clue does not support, try again.
Ready to practice?
The quiz gives you new questions each time and explains every answer. You'll also find more quizzes and full practice tests.