<p>its A, capricious. it means unpredictable, and its the only answer that really makes OK sense.</p>
<p>Was this an official question? The answer should be A.</p>
<p>answer is A</p>
<p>But Flipsta, spontaneous means the same thing.</p>
<p>Spontaneous is quite similar, but not identical, il bandito. Its primary definition is, " Happening or arising without apparent external cause; self-generated." Its other definitions include "2 Arising from a natural inclination or impulse and not from external incitement or constraint.
3 Unconstrained and unstudied in manner or behavior." Dictionary.com also says, "Spontaneous applies to what arises naturally rather than resulting from external constraint or stimulus."</p>
<p>Spontaneous can carry a good connotation. It has more of a meaning of self-created and not resulting from external cause than capricious does. Capricious cannot have a good connotation, as it centers on the fact that there is no cause for the change, hence the unpredictability and changing on a whim part of the definition.</p>
<p>Sanguine what is the answer?</p>
<p>I still believe it is inscrutable. There is a contrast in the sentence. He thought he knew his friend's behavior, but now he does not, it is inscrutable.</p>
<p>Also, wouldn't someone who is capricious also be "care free?"</p>
<p>seriously give us the damn answer i wannna know if it is or isnt A (i would skip this on a real test :P)</p>
<p>I see your reasoning, il bandito, but if inscrutable was the answer, it would have no real relation to the sentence. On the SAT sentence completions, there is almost always a direct clue within the sentence that leads you to the right answer. In this case, the answer has to have some relation to "the same behavior he had intially valued as spontaneous and carefree," but it also has to have a negative twist, because of the first part of the sentence. Making the transition from "spontaneous and carefree" to "inscrutable" is not really supported by the sentence.</p>
<p>A makes the most sense at first glance</p>
<p>Wait...</p>
<p>If the sentence was "The girl was happy and ______" , you would pick a word that means the same thing as happy, right? So for sentence completion you always pick the word that has the same meaning as the corresponding word (ie: happy) ?</p>
<p>The "and" in your example indicates that the word in the blank is in general agreement with "happy." College Board would never make a sentence completion that ambiguous though. It always has some kind of clue, usually a modifying phrase describing the word it is looking for. In that sentence, though, I would not pick an exact synonym for "happy," such as "glad." I would pick something related to happy, such as optimistic or carefree.</p>
<p>There is a contrast in the sentence. Dave initially believes he comprehends his friend's behavior as spontaneous and carefree, but later realizes his behavior is simply ____.</p>
<p>With this contrast in mind, I think inscrutable is the best answer as he once comprended or thought he comprehended his friend's behavior, but now he realizes he really is mystified by it.</p>
<p>David's behavior is not random (capricious) or carefree, so it is "definite".</p>
<p>Capricious is wrong because David's behavior is not random
Incontrovertible - the correct answer
Extraneous - How could David's behavior be "extra?"
Captivating - I doubt lateness would be captivating
Inscrutable - after being late three times, David as well as is actions are not inscrutable, or "cannot be examined/understood"</p>
<p>Well, well, this question has caused plenty of discussions. :)</p>
<p>The answer is A. </p>
<p>Davids behavior has not changed. Therefore, the missing term should describe the behavior in a similar way as spontaneous and carefree. However, Kirk's has now changed his opinion of the behavior of David, and we need a slightly more "negative" adjective. Capricious, which means irresponsibe and unpredictable fits the pattern quite well. The explanation of Flipsta (#28) is right on the money. Lo siento, Il Bandito!</p>
<p>Inscrutable means mysterious and hard to understand. Behavior that is spontaneous and carefree is not necessarily inscrutable, or mysterious. Kirk was able to consider the behavior of David as carefree at first. For him, there is no real mystery: the behavior of David is simply capricious.</p>
<p>PS B cannot be correct. Incontrovertible means indisputable or not open to questions. Kirk could and should question the behavior of David!</p>
<p>I am still sticking with capricious. il bandito, I understand that there is a constrast in the sentence, but that contrast also means that the answer and the words describing the initial impression of his behavior (spontaneous and carefree) must be related in some way. Inscrutable is really unrelated to these words. Inscrutable would work, however, if the sentence sounded more like this: He thought he knew all about David's behavior, but after being surprised by something, he realized the behavior was really _____. THere is also no definite clue for incontrovertible. This word means "impossible to dispute, or unquestionable". Therefore it is completely unrelated to the sentence.</p>
<p>Il Bandito, remember that ETS does GIVE the necessary clues to avoid confusion. One capital sin is to OVERTHINK the problem:</p>
<p>Let's look at a key part: </p>
<p>"Kirk realized that the same behavior *he had initially valued * as spontaneous and carefree"</p>
<p>Kirk initially valued the behavior ... He now realizes his mistake. This means that ETS TELLS us that Kirk WAS ABLE to analyze the situation. He was not mystified by it at the onset, and neither is he now. This eliminates E conclusively.</p>
<p>well well well look who posted the question :)</p>
<p>Can you confirm the answer, sanguine?</p>
<p>what was the answer dammit</p>
<p>THE ANSWER IS A - Capricious</p>
<p>I asked 5 english teachers ... and other 750+ SAT scorers. so yeah....there is your confirmation,</p>