SAT Prep : Sentence Completion Question Collection 1

Sample Sentence Completion Question

1. Football players, generally known for their elevated testosterone levels, would see crying as ________ unmanly rather than a humanistic trait _______ by either sex.
A. sickeningly ... thwarted
B. inherently ... experienced
C. inexplicably ... enjoyed
D. intentionally ... fostered
E. plausibly ... envisioned

Related Sentence Completion Questions

# Key Pattern : rather than

2. Even though tea contains some jitter-ausing caffeine, there are certainly times when it seems to calm rather than ________ the nerves. Turning to the ritual of making and drinking tea has become an almost conditioned response during times of stress. But the calming effects may have nothing to do with chemistry. It is the tea ritual itself, with its associated social aspects, that makes a cup of tea a natural _____________ .
(A) toughen - stimulant
(B) cushion - sedative
(C) jangle - tranquilizer
(D) eneivate - panacea

3. Concerning longevity, larger networks don't always seem to be advantageous to women. Certain kinds of ties add more demands rather than ________ more help.
(A) generate
(B) distribute
(C) fascinate
(D) attribute

4. If he was a true law enforcement officer, he would have upheld his duty to protect those citizens rather than ___________ them.
(A) relieve
(B) placate
(C) enlighten
(D) victimize

5. Older theories are not so much abandoned as corrected. Einstein himself always insisted that his own work was a modification rather than a(n) _______ of Newton's.
(A) rejection
(B) injection
(C) projection
(D) indication
(E) vindication

6. James informs us that he personally as a psychiatrist finds great difficulty in detecting the signs and symptoms of illness in psychotic patients, since their behavior actually appears to him as meaningful and _______ rather than as __________ or irrelevant.
(A) nice — pleasant
(B) difficult — easy
(C) appropriate — odd
(D) deliberate — natural

7. Farmers were encouraged to keep their livestock in pens rather than letting them ______ freely.
(A) reside
(B) repose
(C) roam
(D) roll

8. It was a(n) _______ of several problems rather than any one of them individually that drove the company into bankruptcy.
(A) inquiry
(B) confluence
(C) grasp
(D) thrust

9. Rather than endeavoring to write timeless fiction with lasting value, many novelists cater to the ______ tastes of those modem readers who read a book once and then discard it.
(A) savory
(B) fleeting
(C) superstitious
(D) immoral

10. The boisterous, loud, and playfully unruly spirit of children should be _________ rather than curbed. Any mischief that stems from the age rather than the charader of the child should not be punished.
(A) instigated
(B) cultivated
(C) rebuked
(D) retarded

11. The senator contended that, rather than being a _________ concern, global warming is a critical problem that imperils not just Americans but all life on earth.
(A) significant
(B) hazardous
(C) strategic
(D) peripheral

12. James left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on ________ rather than an ability.
(A) chance
(B) superciliousness
(C) seniority
(D) nepotism
(E) impetus

13. The office building was designed with practical, rather than _________, concerns in mind.
(A) saturnine
(B) aesthetic
(C) endemic
(D) conspicuous

14. Before we spend a lot of money on this project, I would like to see ______ rather than theoretical, evidence that it is effective.
(A) empirical
(B) erroneous
(C) cursory
(D) deficient

15. Always _______ the assertions made by scholars in her field, she prefers to formulate her own theories rather than to _________ the conventional wisdom of her discipline.
(A) encompassed by - read
(B) amused by - analyze
(C) suspicious of - accept
(D) confused by - evaluate

16. Mr. Alfred informs us that he personally as a psychiatrist finds great difficulty in detecting the signs and symptoms of illness in psychotic patients, sincetheir behavior actually appears to him as meaningful and ________ rather than as _______ or irrelevant.
(A) vituperative - propitious
(B) gratuitous - deviant
(C) appropriate - offbeat
(D) queer - indelible

17. The doctor, when left alone, was not quite satisfied with what he said in the interview. He had spoken from _________ rather than from judgement, and, as is generally the case with men who do so speak, he had afterwards to acknowledge to himself that he had been _______ .
(A) fusillade - enamored
(B) urge - vicious
(C) prudence - rash
(D) compulsion - imprudent

18. The company did not pitch itself into the cauldron of technological changes. If it had, it could have held onto its brand leadership, rather than ________ it to a manufacturer that looked dead on its feet a decade ago.
(A) entrust
(B) surrender
(C) attribute
(D) shield

19. All airlines have been under pressure to reduce theircost base. But rather than relying on ________ amenities, as many airlines have done, Cathay Pacific has focused on increasing the productivity of its personnel.
(A) muttering
(B) recouping
(C) juxtaposing
(D) trimming

20. Rather than using the rise of China as a strategic ______ to American primacy, most countries in Asia seem to be quietly _________ with the United States. At the same time, many Asian nations are making deals with each other to create a balance against China.
(A) counterweight - bandwagoning
(B) countercoup - coping
(C) counterblast - grappling
(D) counterfeit - siding