The October 2026 SAT Vocab Survey + Quiz - INT Version 2

With the help of reports from students and Reddit's r/SAT, I've compiled the most common and challenging vocabulary from the October 2026 SAT — pulling from both the US and International administrations. I've put these into a quiz format so students and parents can challenge themselves. Good luck!

SAT Vocabulary October 2026 International - Round 2 - Warm-up Reading Passage

Instructions: Read this passage carefully before taking your quiz. All 10 vocabulary words from October 2026 International SAT Round 2 appear in context. Pay attention to how each word is used naturally in the story.

The Harbor Street Bakery

When the old flour mill on Harbor Street went up for sale, the neighborhood food cooperative saw a chance to open its own bakery. The proposal its members put forward was genuinely innovative: a bakery run entirely by volunteers, selling bread at cost and donating every unsold loaf to the shelter two blocks away.

Not everyone was convinced. Marguerite Okafor, the co-op's longtime treasurer, was skeptical from the start. "Volunteers are wonderful," she said at the first meeting, "but bread needs bakers at four in the morning, every morning."

Others were simply ambivalent. They loved the idea of fresh bread in the neighborhood but worried about taking on debt. The co-op's savings were barely sufficient to cover the down payment, leaving nothing for ovens or repairs.

The mill itself didn't help. Its interior was austere: bare brick walls, a cracked concrete floor, a single working sink. Even the most enthusiastic members admitted it would need months of work.

The proposal's wording created its own problems. One clause promised to "share profits with the community," a phrase so ambiguous that members spent an entire evening arguing over whether it meant the shelter, the volunteers, or lower prices.

Granted, the plan had flaws. But its supporters argued that waiting for a perfect plan meant waiting forever. No one, they pointed out, could predict exactly how many volunteers would show up until the doors opened.

On the night of the vote, the room was packed. Marguerite, still uncertain, chose to abstain. The proposal passed by four votes.

Eighteen months later, the Harbor Street Bakery sells more than three hundred loaves a day, and its volunteer schedule is full through spring. The first time Marguerite tasted its sourdough, she admitted that nothing from the grocery store had ever managed to satiate her quite like it.

Vocabulary words practiced: innovative, sufficient, austere, skeptical, satiate, abstain, ambivalent, ambiguous, predict, granted