Study on the fly›ISEE Upper›Verbal Reasoning › Sentence Completion — single-word
Verbal ReasoningFree
On the ISEE Upper Verbal Reasoning section, Sentence Completion — single-word items ask a student to choose the one vocabulary word that best fills a blank so the sentence is logical. The student must use clues of cause, contrast, or result to pick a word that shows doubt about a weak claim, a transforming quality in a description, or painstaking accuracy in notes. Each question is a short sentence with one gap and a set of single-word answer choices. Common traps are near-synonyms that are too strong or too weak, words that fit the topic but not the logic, and options that ignore a clue that undercuts the meaning.
Question 1
Because the alibi depended on a train that had stopped running years earlier, the detective found it .
Answer: B — untenable
The impossible train schedule causes the alibi to collapse; untenable means not able to be defended.
Question 2
The poet's description is , turning the ordinary alley into a place of mystery.
Answer: D — evocative
Language that creates a vivid mysterious feeling is evocative.
Question 3
The scholar's notes were so that, decades later, another researcher could trace every quotation to its exact source and page.
Answer: B — meticulous
“Meticulous” means careful and precise: the notes let another researcher locate every quotation’s exact source and page. Careless, scattered, and thin do not fit this thorough attention to detail.
Practice 517 Sentence Completion — single-word questions in the app
Study on the fly is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any testing organization, school, or government body.
ISEE® and Independent School Entrance Examination® are registered trademarks of the Educational Records Bureau (ERB).
All practice questions and passages are original works created for Study on the fly and are not reproduced from any official test.