sentence completions

donnykim
Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:31:14 +0000

If you know all the vocabularies, then you need to speed up by immediately identifying what type of word they’re looking for…as in a synonymous word that reinforces a certain point in the sentence or a contrasting antonym that illustrates an opposing point.

For instance,

Negotiations between the two groups soon became so heated that agreement was inconceivable: they had reached ---------------.

(A) a verdict (B) zenith (C) a juggernaut (D) impasse (E) an atonement

I see immediately that I am looking for a word that is parallel with “inconceivable” …as in the argument was not possible because…Hence, I only need look for a negative word

(you should also know that answers after colons and semicolons are parallel with the idea in the first part of the sentences…hence, you look for a synonymous word)

I can see that I’m stuck between (A) verdict and (B) impasse

Now, you will “verdict” used often in a negative way, especially in court rooms, as in hand down a verdict of guilty…or also figuratively in a negative context…but “impasse” which means “barrier” or “obstacle” makes more sense here…because if they couldn’t reach an agreement due to heated negotiations, then they are confronted by an obstacle…

You also need to have a keen sense of collocations (knowing what words go with other words) in order to complete the sentence completions in 1 or 2 minutes…as in we will often say that negotations have reached an impasse…while a verdict is often used as “the verdict on something is…” or “a verdict has been handed down…”

So, for me, I’m almost 90 percent sure as soon as I see negotations that the answer is “impasse,” although I would have to verify.