CHAPTER 5 / SENTENCE COMPLETION SKILLS 227
Lesson 5: Using Context Intelligently
Parallelism
For instance, consider the sentence
Rather than being dull and arcane, her lecture
on galaxy formation was ------ and ------.This contains two ideas that are parallel: dull and
arcane,and ------ and------. By the law of parallelism,
the first missing word is an adjective that contrasts
withdull,and the second is an adjective that con-
trasts with arcane(obscure and hard to understand).
The missing words should contrast with the tone and
meaningof the first two adjectives, preferably in
order.So a nice, tidy, logical way to complete the sen-
tence would be:
Rather than being dull and arcane, her lecture
on galaxy formation was exciting and easy to
understand.Modifiers
At first, you might focus on the modifiers cleanand
regimented.These could be positive descriptions, so
such a training center might impresspeople who seek
cleanliness and order.But no choice really fits this
reading. The real key word is hard to miss: once.This
word implies that people are seeking something that
wasoncepart of boxing but is not any more.There-
fore, they would be disappointed by its absence, and
so they must have been seeking something that is the
oppositeofclean and regimented,likeseedy and undis-
ciplined.(It may seem strange, but some people like
that kind of stuff!)Context and Common SenseParallelismis often an essential element of the
logical structure of a sentence. Noticing parallel
structures often makes completing sentences
much simpler. What is parallelism? Well, it’s
discussed in a bit more detail in Chapter 15,
Lesson 3, entitled “Parallelism.” In short, it is
the similarity among phrases that are listing
things or comparingthings.The modifiers (that is, adjectives and adverbs)
in Sentence Completion questions are not cho-
sen casually. Modifiers usually play key roles in
the logical structure of the sentence. If you read
a sentence a couple of times, and its main idea
isn’t perfectly clear, try reading it through
once more, this time focusing primarily on the
adjectives and adverbs.Your common sense is one of your best tools on
Sentence Completion questions. For instance, if
a sentence refers to a scientist,it’s not just for
decoration. Think: what do scientists do or think
that makes them different from nonscientists?
Or how about teachers,orpoliticians,oradvo-
cates,orcritics,etc.? Of course, the sentences
won’t always show people acting in typical ways,
but they generally require you to understand
how these folks typicallyact or think.Example:
The training center, clean and regimented,
is ------ to those seeking the ------ once associated
with boxing.
(A) surprising.. austerity
(B) disappointing.. seediness
(C) convincing.. chaos
(D) refreshing.. camaraderie
(E) inspiring.. ambitionExample:
An inveterate procrastinator, Pat could always be
counted on to ------ any assignment he is given.
The only real context clue we have here is the fact that
Pat is a procrastinator. If you know what a procrasti-
nator does, then you know how to complete the sen-
tence. Procrastinators postponethings.Practice Your Verbal Inference Skills
Just like every other reading skill, verbal inference
skills can be improved best by reading. Read books
and articles with challenging vocabulary so that you
can practice “figuring out” the meaning of unfamiliar
words.Some students think it’s best to look up new
vocabulary words as soon as they encounter them.
Rather, it’s better to make an educated guess about the
meaning before you look it up. Of course, once you do
look it up, you should make a flashcard using the
College Hill flashcard system described in Chapter 3,
and practice it so that you never forget it.