The SAT is famous—or perhaps infamous—for its questions testing vocabulary knowledge. A strong vocabulary has always offered an advantage on the test, but the extent to which this has been the case has varied over the years.
A well-developed vocabulary was particularly essential in the exam’s early days. Indeed, prior to 2005, nineteen of the SAT’s seventy-two verbal questions—over a quarter—were analogies that often required extensive knowledge of obscure words to answer correctly.
LUMMOX: CLUMSY ::
A) boon: beneficial
B) egotist: conceited
C) rascal: predictable
D) maxim: hackneyed
E) toady: important
Around the turn of the century, educators and educational policy groups began to criticize analogy questions such as this one, denouncing them as out-of-touch and biased. So, starting in the early 2000s, the College Board, which produces and administers the SAT, started to revise the exam to make its vocabulary questions more accessible.
The first major revision came in 2005, when the College Board exchanged analogies for sentence completions. These questions supplied students with more context than the analogies that preceded them but still explicitly tested challenging vocabulary words.
With _______ determination, the explorer persevered through harsh conditions to reach the summit.
A) mercurial
B) somnolent
C) capricious
D) indefatigable
E) truculent
The next significant change occurred in 2016. That year, the College Board did away with sentence completions and implemented vocabulary in context questions. Now, students just had to figure out how a writer was using a particular word in a given context.
Sea turtle beach hatchings are celebrated occasions
in the conservation community. In fact, many
organizations, such as Sea Turtle Conservancy,
work to ensure the safety of sea turtles as they first
5 emerge from their shells and make a daring race to
the ocean.
As used in line 5, “daring” most nearly means
A) dangerous.
B) heroic.
C) dashing.
D) impulsive.
The SAT Vocabulary Question Today
Earlier this year, the College Board rolled out its new, digital SAT. The digital version of the test differs from the previous paper-based one in myriad ways, and one of those ways is how it tests vocabulary—sort of. The exam still features some vocabulary in context questions, as it did before going digital.
The following text is adapted from George Eliot’s 1871–72 novel Middlemarch.
[Mr. Brooke] had travelled in his younger years, and was held in this part of the country to have contracted a too rambling habit of mind. Mr. Brooke’s conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather.
As used in the text, what does the word “contracted” most nearly mean?
A) Restricted
B) Described
C) Developed
D) Settled
However, the digital SAT has also revived sentence completion vocabulary questions, and this format appears to be the primary way it assesses vocabulary knowledge.
Whether the reign of a French monarch such as Hugh Capet or Henry I was historically consequential or relatively uneventful, its trajectory was shaped by questions of legitimacy and therefore cannot be understood without a corollary understanding of the factors that allowed the monarch to _______ his right to hold the throne.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) disengage
B) annotate
C) reciprocate
D) buttress
Ultimately, no matter how the SAT crafts its vocabulary questions, it is a good idea for students to work on expanding their vocabularies. This can be a great starting point for SAT preparation, particularly for younger students like high school freshmen or for students during the summer. There are plenty of vocabulary lists available online and Academic Approach has several lists they can provide your student with. And of course, one of the easiest ways for students to expand their vocabulary is to read widely.
