<p>Like many others I need to raise my Critical Reading score. I bought Barron’s Hot Words since many have recommended it. I also bought a copy of Direct Hits Vocabulary ([Direct</a> Hits Publishing - Lulu.com](<a href=“Lulu Direct”>Lulu Direct)) since it looked different. Since both books have a number of SAT words in common they are easy to compare. Here are three examples. You be the judge!</p>
<li><p>SARDONIC
A. Barron’s Hot Words
The satirist uses a SARDONIC tone throughout his writing, which bitterly mocks excessive commercialism during the holiday season.
Wipe that SARDONIC expression off your face; we’re supposed to be friends, not rivals!
SARDONIC writers mix their political savy with their incisive wit.
B. Direct Hits:
Winston Churchill was famous for his SARCASTIC and SARDONIC comments. Here are two well-known examples:
Bessie Braddock: Sir, you are a drunk.
Churchill: Madame, you are ugly. In the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.
Nancy Astor: Sir, if you were my husband I would give you poison.
Churchill: If I were your husband I would take it.</p></li>
<li><p>RECALCITRANT
A. Barron’s Hot Words
The RECALCITRANT boy in the back row refused to turn off his cell phone during class.
In spite of the law, many RECALCITRANT drivers resist putting on their seat belts.
The usher asked the movie goers to form an orderly line, but the RECALCITRANT crowd wouldn’t budge.
B. Direct Hits
What do Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter) and the singer Amy Winehouse have in common? Both are RECALCITRANT. In The Scarlet Letter, the Reverend Wilson demanded that Hester reveal the name of the father of her child. But, Hester was RECALCITRANT. Despite “the heavy weight of a thousand eyes, all fastened upon her,” Hester stubbornly refused to name the father defiantly declaring, “Never…I will not speak!” In her song, “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse is also defiantly RECALCITRANT. Her friends and family all beg her to go to rehab, but Amy is RECALCITRANT and defiantly declares, “No, no, no.”</p></li>
<li><p>AMBIVALENT
A. Barron’s Hot Words
Rose feels AMBIVALENT about the weekend in Vermont. She wants to go, but she also wants to stay at home.
AMBIVALENCE paralyzes Penny; she can’t make up her mind about anything.
If you expect to win the argument, be confident that you are right. AMBIVALENCE will be taken as a sign of weakness.
B. Direct Hits
In the movie “Gladiator,” Emperor Commodus is AMBIVALENT about giving an order to kill Maximus. He wants to eliminate a hated rival. At the same time he also wants to please the pro-Maximus crowd that is cheering for their triumphant gladiator.
In the movie, “The Notebook,” Allie has to choose between Noah and Lon. She is emotionally torn by her AMBIVALENT feelings as she tells Noah, “There is no easy way, no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt.” She later reiterates her AMBIVALENT feelings when she tells Lon, “When I’m with Noah I feel like one person and when I’m with you I feel like someone totally different.”</p></li>
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