SAT Mc Graw Hill 2011

Lesson 2: The Four Logical Relationships

214 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT

Logic Is as Important as an Enormous

Vocabulary

Contrast

e.g. Although we waited over two hours for a

table, it seemed like only a few minutes.

Support

e.g. We loved staying at the cottage; the sounds

of the ocean calmed us and the sea air invigo-

rated us.

Cause and Effect

e.g. We were irritated by the noise, sowe moved

to the next room.

Definition or Explanation

e.g. Joel was a nihilist, someone who doesn’t

believe that any truth is absolute.

The Sentence Completion questions on the SAT

are logical questions. That is, they are asking

you to find the best word or phrase to complete

each thought logically. They are not asking

you to find the “most interesting” or the “most

complicated” word or phrase. Each question

will include only one choice that will complete

the sentence in a way that makes logical sense.

The other choices will be illogical or incom-

plete in one way or another.

Every sentence in a Sentence Completion ques-

tion has a logical structure that shows the logi-

cal relationship among the ideas in the sentence.

That scheme will always include one or more

of the four basic logical relationships.

Many sentences include more than one logical

structure. Think carefully about each sentence

and make sure you see all of the logical

relationships.

Example:
What Mr. Harrison’s writing lacked in clarity it
made up for in -------, for it contained enough
information for a clever craftsman to re-create
his invention down to the most minute detail.

At first reading, it may seem as if there are many dif-
ferent ways of completing the sentence. That is, there
are many ways that a piece of writing might make up
for a lack of clarity: it might be clever, or funny, or use-
ful, or thought-provoking. But when you look at the
sentence as a whole, there is only one logical way to
complete the sentence. The second part of the sentence
is key: it says that his writing contains enough infor-
mation for a clever craftsman to re-create his invention
down to the most minute detail.In other words, it pro-
vides a lot of detail.This must be what makes up for its
lack of clarity! So while there are many “good” ways to
complete the sentence, only a word like meticulous-
ness, comprehensiveness, completeness, detail,etc., will
make the sentence logically complete.

The Logical Structure of a Sentence

Example:

The motion of the region’s glaciers is both ------

and ------: they seem not to be moving at all, yet

they transform the landscape more profoundly

than any other force of nature.

When you first read the phrase both ------ and ------,

it may seem that the two missing words must be

similar, because they are joined with andrather than

butoryet.But you must get the overall logical struc-

ture first. The colon indicates that the two state-

ments support each other, and the use of yetin the

second statement shows a contrast between the two

ideas within the second statement. Therefore, the

first missing word should mean seemingly motion-

less,and the second word should mean something

likehaving a profound effect. Imperceptibleanddra-

maticwork nicely.