Today’s SAT question of the day is a one-blank sentence completion that gives us the answer right in the sentence (a definition sentence completion).

Her vague sense of ——- grew into anxiety and then alarm when she discovered that her initial doubts about the success of the undertaking were well founded.

She had a sense of something bad, right?  Something like anxiety? So we need an answer choice that means something bad, like anxiety.

There are lots of tempting answer choices for this question.  “Anticipation” and “intrigue”, for example, seem like good choices, but they’re not negative – they’re neutral.  The sentence told us we need a sense of something bad, so those are out. “Remorse” and “complacency” aren’t like anxiety at all, so those aren’t good choices.  “Foreboding” fits the bill: it’s like anxiety and it’s negative. All done!

Remember to let the sentence work for you! Borrow freely to find a good prediction for what should go in the blank.