Sentence Completion Question

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>“Last year, the president of the company donated _____ percentage of her income to charity, a shocking generosity unmatched among other executives of her stature.” - - - From the Sparknotes Critical Reading Book</p>

<p>A) an incompatible
B) a paltry
C) a monolithic
D) an exorbitant
E) an unspoken</p>

<p>I got it down to C) and D). I chose C), but the answer is, of course, D).</p>

<p>Reasoning please! :slight_smile: Thanks</p>

2

<p>if you have narrowed your choices down to c and d . . .

  1. we know that exorbitant is a good size (i looked it up and it actually means, “exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size,” which coincides with the answer)
  2. at first glance i did not know what monolithic meant . . . but if we look at prefixes and roots and such . . . mono- meaning 1, or a whole- does not sound appealing . . .
    so d does sound like the better choice</p>
3

<p>monolithic means a hugh sum</p>

4

<p>dictionary.com says monolith is “Massive, solid, and uniform”</p>

<p>“Mono-” really is the clue here. We are not talking about a single donation or contribution, rather a substantial amount.</p>

<p>This is a tough question so don’t fret, but make sure you know both exorbitant and monolithic, both have been seen recently on the SAT!!</p>

5

<p>Ahhh…I see now… :-&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>“-lith” means rock. (You know how neolithic and paleolithic are parts of the stone age?) I doubt a donation would be described as like a single rock. A monolith is typically a big rock, but the size is the least important part of the meaning, and nothing is described as monolithic just because of its size. An amount would never be described as monolithic.</p>