Gruber's Essential Guide to Test Taking: Grades 6-9 - Gruber Gary R. 2019

Sentence completions
Verbal strategies

Sentence completion questions basically test your child’s ability to use words correctly in sentences, that is, to fit the right word to the meaning of a particular sentence (or context). There are essentially two types of sentence completion questions. In the first type, there is a sentence in which a word is underlined and its meaning has to be understood from the context in the sentence. In the second type, there is a sentence with a missing word (indicated by a blank), and the correct word must be supplied.

SENTENCE COMPLETION STRATEGY I: Try All of the Choices

Here’s an example of the first type of sentence completion question:

EXAMPLE

He is not convinced that you can do the job on time. Convinced means

(A) interested

(B) daring

(C) persuaded

(D) rushed

Here you can try all the choices to see which one fits best in the sentence. That is, of course, if you don’t know the meaning of the word convinced.

So the best fit is Choice C. Note that if you didn’t know what the word persuaded meant, you could have eliminated the other choices by this method.

Here’s an example of the second type of sentence completion question:

EXAMPLE

He did very well on the exam__the fact that he hardly studied.

(A) despite

(B) plus

(C) and

(D) except

The easiest way to answer this question is to try each of the choices, as you did with the previous example, until you’ve found the word that seems to fit. For this example, you should know that Choice A (despite) is the right word.

SENTENCE COMPLETION STRATEGY 2 Look for Clues and Key Words

There is, however, a much more accurate method of answering these questions: Look for clues that will suggest the missing word. You can do this by studying the structure of the sentence. The sentence in the example above says, “He did well on the exam . . .” and “. . . he hardly studied.” You should reason that “hardly studying” somewhat contradicts the fact that “he did well.” So the missing word is a link that describes a contradiction. The word/words could be

in spite of

regardless of

despite

You can now see why Choice A fits best.

Here’s another example of the second type of sentence completion question:

EXAMPLE

She was really________in public, but she was hated at home.

(A) smart

(B) silly

(C) likable

(D) despised

You can, of course, try each choice in the sentence and probably find that Choice C fits. However, it’s a good idea to get used to the more effective method, which uses a critical-thinking approach. The word but gives us a clue that while one thing is happening in one part of the sentence, the opposite thing is happening in the other: “She was hated at home”; “she was _____ in public.” The missing word must be the opposite of the word hated. Choice C describes a good opposite.

Sentence Completion Exercises and Explantory Answer

The following are examples of the first type of sentence completion problem. Have your child do these after you have explained to him or her the strategies just described.

QUESTIONS

1Some items are made to last a lifetime, whereas others are made to be quickly consumed.

The word consumed means

(A) to be used up

(B) to be praised

(C) to be eaten

(D) to be sold

2In order to find out what caused the disease, the doctors had to isolate the disease germs.

Isolate means

(A) intensify

(B) separate

(C) calculate

(D) destroy

3Because he cheated on the exam, he was penalized by losing 20 points.

Penalized means

(A) gratified

(B) pardoned

(C) supported

(D) punished

4Everybody understood exactly what he was saying because he gave such a lucid speech.

Lucid means

(A) vibrant

(B) slow

(C) clear

(D) wild

5John has to travel many hours to his job because he resides far from where he works.

Resides means

(A) travels

(B) lives

(C) plays

(D) comes

ANSWERS

After your child tries the preceding exercises, explain the answers below to him or her, and check to see how your child approached each question.

1(A)“Some items are made to last a lifetime, whereas others . . Whereas tells us that others will not last a lifetime. Thus the word consumed must mean to be used up.

2(B)If your child does not know the meaning of the word isolate, it is best to have your child eliminate the incorrect choices. Put each of the choices in the sentence:

(A) . . . the doctors had to intensify the disease germs. It is unlikely that the doctors would want to intensify the germs in order to find a cure. Therefore Choice A is wrong.

(B) . . . the doctors had to separate the disease germs. This sounds as if they can then find out about the individual germs—so far a good choice.

(C) . . . the doctors had to calculate the disease germs. You don’t calculate disease germs—you calculate the number of disease germs. Choice C is incorrect.

(D) . . . the doctors had to destroy the disease germs. You’d want to destroy the germs to make the patient better, but the doctors were trying to find out what caused the disease. If they destroyed the germs, they wouldn’t be able to figure out what caused them. So Choice D is incorrect.

Choice B is the only remaining good choice.

3(D)“Because he cheated on the exam,” something bad happened to him—he lost 20 points, llius he must have been punished. He certainly wasn’t gratified (Choice A), pardoned (Choice B), or supported (Choice C).

4(C)If everybody knew what the speaker was talking about, the speaker must have given a very clear, understandable speech. Lucid must mean clear.

5(B)If John travels many hours to and from his job, he must live very far from where he works. Choice B is therefore correct.

QUESTIONS

Now have your child try the following exercises, which are examples of the second type of sentence completion problem. (Find the missing word.)

1Although she is really ______, she does not do well on exams.

(A) likable

(B) smart

(C) rich

(D) stupid

2Don’t live in a dreamworld—you can’t make money without putting in a lot of ______.

(A) enjoyment

(B) happiness

(C) structure

(D) effort

3It’s one thing to have ideas, but it’s another thing to ______ them into something.

(A) destroy

(B) push

(C) plan

(D) develop

4The weather looks slightly gray outside. It might ______.

(A) rain

(B) storm

(C) pour

(D) hail

5That was the best time I’ve ever had away from home, and to think I didn’t even want to ______.

(A) stay

(B) play

(C) go

(D) arrive

ANSWER

After your child tries the preceding exercises, go over his or her work and explain the following answers.

1(B)“Although” is a key word in the sentence. It tells us that something happens even though something else happens. So we are looking for opposites. The phrase “she does not do well on exams” makes us believe that she may not be intelligent. But the word “ although ” in the sentence contradicts that and is saying that she is smart. Choice B is the correct answer.

2(D)If you did live in a dream world, you might think that money grows on trees or that you would have to put very little effort into making money. Choice D is therefore correct.

3(D)The sentence is really saying that it’s great to have ideas but you should do something with them. What can you do? You can develop them into something. Choice D is therefore correct.

4(A)The key word in the sentence is “ slightly. ” If the weather looks only “ slightly gray ” outside, it then might only rain. It is unlikely that it will storm, pour, or hail. Choice A is the answer.

5(C)The person is saying that because he or she had a great time—it’s a good thing he or she went. So when the person says “and to think I didn’t even want to______,” the blank word must be go (Choice C). It couldn’t have been stay (Choice A). Play (Choice B) is too specific in the context of the first part of the sentence. Arrive (Choice D) does not make sense.