<p>Sometimes, the SAT asks you to determine the tone of the passage. However, in some instances, two choices seem to both fit the answer. For example, the infamous disdain/resentment question on the PSAT form W. In such cases, which choice should one pick?</p>
<p>The less extreme one. “resentment” was right because it was less extreme than “disdain”</p>
<p>It seems that both words are pretty extreme.
Resentment - a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
Disdain - a feeling of contempt or scorn</p>
<p>It is hard to say which one is less extreme, and even so, it is somewhat ridiculous for the College Board to always delineate the less extreme tone as correct.</p>
<p>And it also depends on the context of the passage</p>
<p>I sometimes have a hard time with those questions too. I remember spending a couple minutes on the resentment/disdain one. I ended up choosing resentment because I thought it was less extreme.</p>
<p>That resentment/disdain question was the worst question I’ve ever come across on a standardized test. Obviously, I am biased since I ended up getting it wrong lol, but still…I mustve spent a minute in disbelief that they would give two answer choices so similar in connotation (strong, negative feeling). I didn’t know disdain specifically was associated with a feeling of superiority, so I put that and moved on. Still, I think there is a solid argument for disdain: since the other boys had been there longer than Hari, they might have felt superior to someone else coming in taking their jobs (alas, hence the resentment).</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I came across one that made me choose between sardonic/condescending. It took me a while :(</p>