19. The Code of Hammurabi (a)consisting of 282 case laws, (b)or judicial decisions, (c)collected (d)toward the end of the reign of Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babylon’s First Dynasty. (e)No error

20. (a)More than 10,000 earthen mounds, (b)built by prehistoric Native Americans (c)for ceremonial purposes, (d)they have found in Minnesota. (e)No error

21. In order to (a)prepare for the speech he (b)was given to all of the parents and teachers at the school, George practiced speaking (c)in front of a group of (d)his friends. (e)No error

See the comment for the answer.

Tags: improving sentence, sat writing, Writing Section

Vocabulary

671. lithe adj. Supple.
672. cohesion n. Consistency.
673. maudlin adj. Foolishly and tearfully affectionate.
674. selective adj. Having the power of choice.
675. contradictory adj. Inconsistent with itself.
676. peddle v. To go about with a small stock of goods to sell.
677. transcience n. Something that is of short duration.
678. discord n. Absence of harmoniousness.
679. limitation n. A restriction.
680. phonogram n. A graphic character symbolizing an articulate sound.

Sample Sentence

672. Wet sand has more cohesion than dry sand.
674. Businesses should be very selective about who they give credit to–and how much credit they give.
675. Contradictory remarks on the currency’s performance in recent days and weeks has only damaged the single currency.
676. Do not be overconfident when dealing with vendors who peddle their wares in the street.
678. Discord waxed at an alarming rate.
679. Limitations are a blessing if you choose to see them that way and use them as motives to do better.

Tags: Sample sentence, sat vocabulary, SAT word list

25. The first public botanical garden in the United States, the Elgin Botanic Garden in New York City was established to provide plant materials for studying by medical students.

(a) for studying by medical students
(b) for medical students to study
(c) to medical students for their study
(d) for the study of medical students
(e) that medical students will study

26. Widely regarded as the greatest American chess player in history, Bobby Fischer’s prominence came as a child, winning the U.S. Open at the age of thirteen and becoming a grandmaster at age fifteen.

(a) Bobby Fischer’s prominence came as
(b) Bobby Fischer’s prominence came when he was
(c) it was Bobby Fischer coming to prominence as
(d) Bobby Fischer came to prominence as
(e) his prominence came to Bobby Fischer as

27. Johannes Gutenberg is generally credited to bring together the two main concepts of modern printing: movable pieces of metal type that could be reused, and a printing press for producing sharp impressions on paper over and over.

(a) to bring
(b) as he brought
(c) by bringing
(d) with bringing
(e) for the fact of bringing

See the comment for the answer.

Tags: improving sentence, sat writing, Writing Section

67. Michael’s compliments to his boss were ——– sincere, but Andrea correctly suspected they had more to do with his desire for a promotion than with his genuine feelings.

(a) ostensibly
(b) intuitively
(c) sporadically
(d) unequivocally
(e) predominantly

68. A judgment made before all the facts are known must be called ———.

(a) harsh
(b) deliberate
(c) sensible
(d) premature
(e) fair

69. Mobility has scattered families and ——— the continuities that once cemented local loyalties.

(a) fused
(b) eroded
(c) cradled
(d) perpetuated
(e) consolidated

See the comment for the answer.

Tags: Critical Reading Section, sat question, sentence completion

661. fortify v. To provide with defensive works.
662. meander v. To wind and turn while proceeding in a course.
663. butte n. A conspicuous hill, low mountain, or natural turret, generally isolated.
664. judgement n. The faculty by the excersice of which a deliberate conclusion is reached.
665. salutary adj. Beneficial.
666. abrupt adj. Beginning, ending, or changing suddenly or with a break.
667. cudgel n. A short thick stick used as a club.
668. evolve v. To unfold or expand.
669. literacy n. The state r condition of knowing how to read and write.
670. knighthood n. Chivalry.

Tags: sat vocabulary, SAT word list, word list

34. A bakery uses a special flour mixture that contains corn, wheat, and rye in the ratio of 4:6:3. If a bag of the mixture contains 6 pounds of rye, how many pounds corn does it contain?

(a) 2
(b) 4
(c) 6
(d) 8
(e) 10

35. Twenty percent of the coins in a piggy bank are quarters and ten percent are nickels. If there are 150 coins in the bank, how many are not quarters or nickels?

(a) 60
(b) 80
(c) 105
(d) 110
(e) 120

36. At the beginning of 2004, the population of Rockville was 204,000 and the population of Springfield was 216,000. If the population of each city increased by exactly 20% in 2004, how many more people lived in Springfield that in Rockville at the end of 2004?

(a) 2,400
(b) 8,000
(c) 11,000
(d) 14,400
(e) 25,600

See the comment for the answer.

Tags: math question, Mathematics Section, SAT Math

I’ll take a break from the time management for this week, as I feel that this tip will go a lot longer way than another article about time management during the test.

Prior to the test, the proctor will say that you should fill in your circles completely and that you should use the 2B pencil all the time so that your answers show up and that you should never use ink. Okay, don’t use ink as it’ll get you a zero. But please… 2B all the time? I hope that you’re not taking him or her seriously…

The mechanical pencil has to be your best friend during the test if you’re used to using one. Well, maybe that graphing calculator may be the better friend. Anyways, one thing for sure is that you don’t only want the 2B to be doing the job. You do want to use the 2B to fill in the circles (because the HBs aren’t dark enough and the 3Bs tend to smudge easily…) but other than that, they aren’t that different from any other tool.

Let’s take a look at the essay section first. Oh please, do you really want to use the pencil to write the essay? It’s already bad that you are writing when the world is using computers! (Thank you TOEFL iBT!) Sharpening when the tip gets dull? Why not just use the mechanical pencils? It’s a lot easier and faster! Especially when writing the essay, you don’t even have time to erase! (Just cross out the wrong parts.) Do you actually have the time to sharpen? Maybe you can switch pencils, but let me tell you that those 2Bs get dull really quickly. The proctor won’t say anything if you decide to use a mechanical pencil instead to write the essay. Your readers will be able to read it and the essay will show up. Every single SAT I’ve taken and the SATs my friends have taken, we have all used the mechanical pencil here and never have we gotten a 0. It’s true!

Also, during the math section, especially when you need that precision to do the calculations (some by hand) in that small amount of paper space that CollegeBoard gives… Do you want to fill that up with your 0.5 cm thick pencil marks? Why not just use the mechanical pencil? Same goes for the reading and the writing sections. The scantron at CollegeBoard does not scan your workbook to see if you really used the 2B or not. All they check is your answer sheet. Use that mechanical pencil or whatever writing tool you use most of the time to your good!

Now, if you don’t use a mechanical pencil, you can just forget about this insider tip. But for those who do, hey, use it!

Tags: 2b pencil, cetra, Cetra's Insider, collegeboard, rules and regulations, sat institute, SAT Tips & Tricks

37. Paul ran a 15-mile race at an average speed of 6 miles per hour. If Adam ran the same race at an average speed of 5 miles per hour, how many minutes longer did Adam take to complete the race than did Paul.

(a) 5
(b) 9
(c) 15
(d) 24
(e) 30

38. If x + 3y = 15, y + 3z = 8, 3x + z = 25, what is the value of x + y + z?

(a) 9
(b) 12
(c) 14
(d) 24
(e) 48

39. If a = 3b and b = 2 – a, what is the value of 4b + 2a?

(a) 3
(b) 4
(c) 5
(d) 6
(e) 7

See the comment for the answer.

Tags: math question, Mathematics Section, SAT Math

701. adjudge v. To award or bestow by formal decision.
702. stallion n. An uncastrated male horse, commonly one kept for breeding.
703. extort v. To obtain by violence, threats, compulsion, or the subjection of another to some necessity.
704. sinus n. An opening or cavity.
705. invalid adj. Having no force, weight, or cogency.
706. similar adj. Bearing resemblance to one another or to something else.
707. distinction n. A note or designation of honor, officially recognizing superiority or success in studies.
708. unaffected adj. Sincere.
709. flag-officer n. The captain of a flag-ship.
710. upcast n. A throwing upward.

Tags: sat vocabulary, SAT word list

SAT is a test that takes a lot of preparation to do well on. While solving a lot of questions, memorizing a lot of words, and getting as many information and resources as possible will help, one of the biggest step that must be taken is making a schedule, a routine.

While preparing for the SATs, the touch, the feel, the sense for the test is crucial. Basketball players will shoot hundreds of balls a day to maintain their feel for the ball. Soccer players will take hundreds of kicks to kick the ball at the exact spot to make it fly both accurately and powerfully. SAT is in a sense, the same. You need to maintain that feel for the test up until two days before the test day. (Please, no sections the day before. They don’t help!)

How? It takes a lot of self-initiative and self-motivation to accomplish it. However, it is a decent deal for a 2300+ score, if that is what you are aiming at. (Hopefully all SI readers are!) Open up Excel or get out a piece of paper and draw a table or just somehow get a planner. Then, plan out what you will do each day. Maybe you can take a section each (reading, writing, math) per day and memorize 10 vocabulary. If you still have a bit of time, you can do one section a day. If you’re running out of time, how about a test a day?

The schedule really depends on your personal schedule–the time you’ll spend on homework, school work, with friends, etc.–but if you get a schedule written down and pasted right in front of your desk, it is more likely that it will help you than not.  It may be a bit hard to follow at first, but once you get the hang of it, your scores will most definitely improve!

NOTE: Don’t make a schedule if you are not going to even look at it after you are done making it.

Tags: cetra, Cetra's Insider, sat institute, sat timeline, SAT Tips & Tricks