The hardest part of the SAT Reading section for most test takers is arguably the sentence completion. The format of sentence completion is simple. The student is given a sentence with either one or two blanks. The student then must pick the right SAT vocabulary word to fill in that blank. How does the student know which of the five answer choices to pick? The answer is easy:

The definition of the correct word choice answer is in the question itself.

For example:

Judy was ____________; she was so happy that she aced the SATs.

(A) Elucidated
(B) Sardonic
(C) Complacent
(D) Ebullient
(E) Flippant

The correct answer would be (D) Ebullient. Why? Because Ebullient means cheerful and as we can see she was so happy part of the question is the definition of ebullient.

The hard part? Unfortunately the only way to prepare is get exposure to common sat vocabulary words. Dont worry, I prepared a SAT Vocabulary Word List with their definitions. All of these words come from practice tests I have taken in the past and the NY Times. (which uses words frequently found on the SAT.)

Esoteric- arcane

Complacent- satisfied, unworried

Admonition- warning

Incredulous- skeptical, disbelieving

Nonchalant- casual, indifference

Sardonic- sarcastic, mocking

Flippant- frivolous, lacking depth, seriousness

Iconoclastic one who attacks settled beliefs or institutions

Naysayer- one who denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something

Pretentious- pompous ambitious

Errant- out of place

Pertinent- relevant

Loquacious- wordy

Torrid- hot

Laconic- brief, terse,

Audacious- bold, daring

Agape- wonder

Loquacious- wordy

Capitulation- surrender, submission

Caprice- whim, impulse

Capriciousness- indecisiveness, unpredictability

Putsch- revolt against the government

Psychedelic- state produced by drugs

Quaint- old-fashioned, charming

Quaffable- drinkable

Need more vocabulary words to study? Visit John's site at http://sat-college-guide.blogspot.com for a free and bigger SAT Vocabulary Word List with four vocab words for each letter of the alphabet (over 100 free SAT words) with definitions and techniques to quickly memorize and recall these vocabulary words.

John Liu is a freshman studying at Cornell University. He achieved a score of 2140 on the SAT and got into the Ivy League without the help of a $900 Kaplan or Princeton Review course.