Words in context

Digital SAT · Reading and Writing · Craft and Structure. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

These questions give a short text with a blank, or with one word underlined, and ask for the word that fits most logically and precisely. They test how a word works in this text, not how rare a word you know.

Cover the choices first. Read the whole text and find the clue: the part that explains or contrasts with the blank. Say the meaning the blank needs in your own simple word. Then pick the choice that matches your word.

Check the direction too. Words such as but, yet and although signal a contrast. A colon or because signals that an explanation of the blank follows.

Rules to remember

Predict your own word before you look at the choices
The clue is always in the text: an example, a definition, or a contrast
but, yet, however, although, despite: the blank is the opposite of the idea nearby
a colon, because, since, so, indeed: the blank agrees with the idea nearby
Check the tone: positive, negative or neutral must match the text
For an underlined word, a common word often has a less common meaning (to qualify a claim = to limit it)
Put your choice back into the sentence and read the whole text again

Common mistake

Choosing the most difficult-looking word, or a word that fits the topic but not the logic of the sentence. A simple word that matches the clue is the right answer.

Worked example

Text: "The early maps of the coastline were far from ______: surveyors working from small boats in rough weather often misjudged distances, and later charts corrected hundreds of their errors." Choices: accurate, ancient, colorful, expensive. Which word fits?

The colon shows that the rest of the sentence explains the blank.
The explanation is about misjudged distances and errors, so the maps had many mistakes.
"Far from ______" must mean "full of mistakes," so the blank needs a word meaning correct.
Only "accurate" means correct. The other words are about age, appearance and cost, which the text does not mention.

Answer: accurate

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