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Prove the
Fit.

The right word. The right evidence.
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The tempting answer is usually close. Close is wrong.

Hi, I'm Victor.

Your Instructor
  • Founder of High Performance Tutoring (est. 2011)
  • Chief architect of HPT's SAT program
  • 23 years teaching & tutoring math, science & test prep
  • PhD candidate in mathematics
  • Helped hundreds of students raise their SAT score
  • Helped thousands of students improve their grades

One rule. Three question types.

THE RULE
Name the job. Prove the fit.
Decide exactly what the answer must do, then match the one that does it.
Words in Context
The precise word.
The bridge was ______: half the materials, twice the strength.
Which choice completes the text?
Alarge
Bingenious✓
Ccostly
Dmodern
Evidence: Text
The right support.
Claim: Reading aloud to young children every day helps them build a larger vocabulary by the time they start school.
Which finding best supports the claim?
AChildren read to daily knew more words by age five.✓
BMany parents enjoy bedtime reading.
CChildren who watch educational TV also learn words.
DReading aloud helps children fall asleep faster.
Evidence: Data
Read the graph.
Claim: More daily sunlight produced taller plants.
0 30 Height (cm) 2 4 6 8 Daily sunlight (hours)
Which finding best supports the claim?
APlants given 6 hours grew taller than those given 2 hours.✓
BPlants given 8 hours reached about 27 cm.
CPlants given 2 hours grew taller than those given 6 hours.
DAll plants grew to about the same height.
01
Words in Context

It's not a
vocabulary test.

Building a strong vocabulary is important, but today's lesson is about strategy.

Give the word a job description.

Read the question first, then decide three things the blank must do.

After weeks of drought, the sudden storm was a ______ to the withered crops.
Which choice completes the text?
1 · MEANING
What idea does the sentence need?
a rescue or relief
2 · DIRECTION
Positive or negative?
positive
3 · STRENGTH
Mild word, or a strong one?
strong
Ablessing✓ fits
Bsurpriseneutral
Cdisruptionnegative
Dchangetoo weak

The sentence leaves signals.

A few words tell you which direction the blank must go.

Restates
that is, in other words → the blank repeats a nearby idea.
Contrasts
but, however, although, unlike → the blank flips direction.
Cause & result
so, because, therefore → the blank follows logically.
Examples
such as, for instance, like → the blank names what they share.

Find the signal, and the blank's direction is decided for you.

Contrast

HINT "But," "although," "unlike": the blank flips direction.
Sentence
Although the committee had expected the plan to face resistance, it won ______ approval: nearly every member voted yes on the first day.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Predict the job
Agreed to by (almost) everyone. Positive, strong.
Areluctantopposite direction
Bunanimous✓ does the job
Ctemporarytrue-but-irrelevant
Dmodestwrong strength

Restatement

HINT "That is," "in other words": the blank repeats a nearby idea.
Sentence
The school's new attendance policy was ______; that is, it applied to every student, with no exceptions.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Predict the job
"Applied to everyone." So the word means "for all."
Aoptionalopposite direction
Buniversal✓ restates "everyone"
Ctemporarytrue-but-irrelevant
Dstrictclose, not restated

Cause & result

HINT "Because," "so," "therefore": the blank follows logically.
Sentence
Because the new design used far less steel, the bridge was surprisingly ______ to build.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Predict the job
Less steel, so it costs less. The word means "cheap."
Aexpensiveopposite direction
Beconomical✓ follows from less steel
Csturdyoff-topic
Dslowwrong result

Examples

HINT "Such as," "for instance," "like": the blank names what they share.
Sentence
The museum's ______ artifacts, such as a cracked Roman coin and a faded medieval map, fascinated visitors.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Predict the job
An old coin and an old map. They share being "ancient."
Amodernopposite direction
Bancient✓ what they share
Ccolorfulirrelevant (it's faded)
Dvaluablenot what they share

Common word, uncommon job.

The SAT loves everyday words used in a less-everyday sense.

EVERYDAY WORDS THAT HIDE A SECOND MEANING
check → restrain
table → postpone
coin → invent
foil → thwart
eclipse → surpass
compound → worsen
Sentence
The engineer's design was genuinely ______; no one had built anything like it before.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Apopular
Bnovel✓ = new / original
Cdifficult
Dancient
02
Command of Evidence

Does it actually
prove the point?

Every claim comes with a burden of proof. Your job is to find the evidence that meets it, not the evidence that sounds nice.

Name what must be proved.

Break the claim into the four things the evidence has to show.

Claim Daily exercise improves teenagers' focus in school.
SUBJECT
Who or what?
teens who exercise
RELATIONSHIP
What link is claimed?
exercise → focus
DIRECTION
More or less?
more focus
DEGREE
How strong a claim?
in general
Which answer choice most directly supports the claim?
ATeens who exercised daily scored higher on focus tests than teens who didn't.✓
BMany teenagers enjoy playing sports.off-topic
CAdults who exercise report sharper focus at work.wrong subject
DExercise strengthens the heart and muscles.wrong link

Another example.

The claim
Last year, a city added protected bike lanes to several of its busiest streets. In the months that followed, the number of residents commuting by bicycle rose sharply. A transportation researcher concluded that the new lanes were the cause of the increase.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the researcher's conclusion?
AIn neighborhoods that received the new lanes, bicycle commuting rose far more than in similar neighborhoods without them.✓ isolates the cause
BThe city spent more on the new bike lanes than on any other transportation project that year.off-topic
CMany residents said they enjoy cycling for exercise on weekends.off-topic
DBicycle sales rose across the whole region last year, including towns that added no new lanes.actually weakens it
The evidence can look different

The evidence changed form.
The standard didn't.

IN WORDS
What does this finding establish?
IN NUMBERS
What do these data establish?

Read it before you use it.

Ten seconds on the graph saves you from every data trap.

Plant height by week, at two light levels
High light (6 h) Low light (2 h)
Height (cm) 0 10 20 30 Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Week
TITLE
What is it measuring?
AXES, UNITS & LEGEND
What do the numbers and colors mean?
THE CLAIM
Which comparison does it need?

Accurate and relevant.

Average nightly sleep, by grade
Sleep (hrs) 0 5 10 8.5 7.8 6.9 6.2 9th 10th 11th 12th Grade
Claim A researcher asked students at each grade how much they sleep, and concluded that sleep declines as students move through high school.
Which choice best supports the conclusion with the data?
AEleventh graders slept fewer hours than ninth graders.✓ accurate + relevant
BNinth graders slept about 8.5 hours a night.accurate, but one point
CTwelfth graders slept more than ninth graders.misreads the graph
DEvery grade slept about the same amount.false reading
The whole hour in one line

Name the job. Prove the fit.

THE WORD
Meaning, direction, strength.
THE EVIDENCE
Subject, relationship, direction, degree.
THEN MATCH
Predict the requirement. Take the exact fit.

Your precision checklist.

✓Words in context = predict the word's job (meaning, direction, strength) first
✓Command of evidence = name the claim's burden, then find what meets it
✓Data questions = the answer must be accurate AND relevant to the claim
✓Same traps as always = echo, opposite, too-extreme, true-but-irrelevant
Download the Bluebook App
•The exact app you'll use on test day, so get comfortable with the format.
•8 real practice tests, made by the College Board.
•Automatically timed and scored, a great way to get a baseline.

Further practice and resources.

PRACTICE
Targeted practice problems on today's skills.
REVIEW
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GREAT WORK TODAY

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NEXT WEEK
Writing & Grammar: Punctuation as Rules
Thursday, Sept 17  ·  5:00 PM PT
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