SAT Reading & Writing: Hard Words in Context (Drill 24)

Question 1. A bare bulb throws hard-edged shadows, but behind frosted glass the same light grows ______, scattering in many directions until the shadows soften to almost nothing.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?

• A) concentrated
• B) coherent
• C) diffuse ✓
• D) polarized

Explanation: (C) Behind frosted glass the light 'scatters in many directions until the shadows soften,' which is light spread out rather than focused: diffuse. (A) concentrated means gathered to a point, the opposite of scattered, softening light. (B) coherent describes light whose waves stay in step, as in a laser, a property unrelated to whether the light is scattered or focused. (D) polarized refers to the orientation of light waves, again a different property from how spread out the light is.

Question 2. With no survey data for the continent's interior, the mapmaker's rivers there were frankly ______, inked in from travelers' rumors rather than any measured course.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?

• A) hypothetical ✓
• B) authoritative
• C) obsolete
• D) ornamental

Explanation: (A) The rivers were drawn 'from travelers' rumors rather than any measured course,' so they were guessed at rather than known: hypothetical. (B) authoritative claims reliability, the very thing rumor-based lines lack, so it reverses the sense. (C) obsolete means out of date, but the problem is missing data, not old data. (D) ornamental would make the rivers mere decoration, yet they are attempts at real features, however unverified.

Question 3. The following text is adapted from Ann Radcliffe's 1794 novel The Mysteries of Udolpho.

Emily, observing him in silence, saw that his countenance was darker and sterner than usual, and from its altered look she tried to read the thoughts he would not speak.

As used in the text, what does the word "countenance" most nearly mean?

• A) posture
• B) temper
• C) reputation
• D) expression ✓

Explanation: (D) Emily reads his mood 'from its altered look,' and a look that turns 'darker and sterner' is the face and its expression: countenance here means the expression of the face. (A) posture is the body's stance, not the face she is watching for an 'altered look.' (B) temper is the inner mood she is trying to infer, not the visible thing she reads it from. (C) reputation is how others regard a person over time, which has nothing to do with a look changing in the moment.

Question 4. Rather than paving the plaza with solid concrete, the designers chose a ______ surface of gravel and open joints, letting rainwater sink through instead of pooling on top.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?

• A) congested
• B) permeable ✓
• C) monumental
• D) derelict

Explanation: (B) The surface lets 'rainwater sink through instead of pooling,' which is a material water can pass through: permeable. (A) congested means clogged or overcrowded, which would block the free flow of water rather than allow it. (C) monumental speaks to grand scale, which the drainage choice does not concern. (D) derelict means neglected and run-down, but a deliberately designed surface is the reverse of abandoned.

Question 5. The clownfish and the anemone live in a ______ arrangement: the fish gains shelter among the stinging tentacles while ridding its host of parasites, so both partners benefit.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?

• A) parasitic
• B) migratory
• C) mutualistic ✓
• D) dominant

Explanation: (C) The sentence states 'both partners benefit,' each doing something useful for the other, which is precisely a mutualistic relationship, the kind of association in which both species gain. (A) parasitic would mean one gains at the other's expense, but here neither is harmed. (B) migratory concerns seasonal movement, not how two species relate. (D) dominant ranks one partner over another, yet the passage stresses shared benefit, not control.