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Identify the evidence for each answer and the specific flaw in its nearest competitor. Complete the four written drills in the lesson before this practice set. Question numbers follow the shuffled order; Guide question labels match the lesson references.
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The drill
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Question 5
Guide question 5.05
Foundation
The field notes were fragmentary: several dates were missing, and descriptions often ended halfway through a sentence.
As used in the text, what does 'fragmentary' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Use direct explanation
Correct choice: Incomplete
Missing dates and unfinished descriptions directly establish that parts of the record are absent.
A: The passage says nothing about restricting access to the notes.
B: Missing material does not indicate repeated material.
D: Statements can be incomplete without conflicting with one another.
If you missed it: Use the explanation after the colon as a definition clue.
Differences in soil moisture alone cannot account for the uneven growth: plants maintained at the same measured soil-moisture level still developed at markedly different rates.
As used in the text, what does 'account for' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Recognize a phrase's sense
Correct choice: Explain
The sentence tests a proposed explanation. Growth still differed when measured soil moisture was the same, so differences in moisture alone cannot explain the pattern.
B: Moisture differences are proposed as a cause, not a measuring instrument.
C: The sentence does not describe moisture as a component or proportion of growth.
D: The issue is why growth varied, not whether someone recorded it.
If you missed it: Identify whether 'account for' describes explanation, composition, or another relationship.
The proposal remains speculative. Its mechanism is consistent with the observations, but no experiment has yet distinguished it from two competing explanations.
As used in the text, what does 'speculative' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Preserve degree of certainty
Correct choice: Conjectural
The proposal is a possible explanation that remains unconfirmed against alternatives; it is therefore conjectural.
A: Consistency with observations does not suggest an internally incoherent proposal.
B: The missing distinguishing experiment prevents treating it as established.
C: The proposal addresses the observations and is relevant to explaining them.
If you missed it: Separate 'not established' from 'illogical' or 'unrelated.'
The reviewer questions the exhibit's chronology but does not dismiss its interpretation; her response is _____, accepting the central argument while identifying a specific limitation.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Why this answer
Read a contrast precisely
Correct choice: Qualified
The reviewer accepts the argument with a reservation. 'Qualified' describes that limited endorsement.
A: She makes a specific judgment, which does not establish indifference.
C: Her objection introduces a condition or reservation.
D: A specific criticism combined with acceptance does not establish hostility.
If you missed it: Combine both halves: acceptance plus a stated limitation.
The committee retained the fee waiver and left its administration unchanged. Its application, however, was circumscribed: applicants who had previously qualified merely by living in the city would now have to meet an income requirement as well.
As used in the text, what does 'circumscribed' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Distinguish scope from permanence
Correct choice: Restricted
The new rule adds an eligibility condition while keeping the waiver itself. 'Restricted' captures this narrowing of who can qualify.
B: 'Retained' and continued eligibility for some applicants rule out suspension.
C: The administration remains unchanged; the new rule narrows eligibility rather than establishing uniform procedures.
D: The waiver already existed. The stated change concerns eligibility, not making an informal practice official.
If you missed it: Name what changed: eligibility range, not existence, uniformity, or official status.
The researcher did not begin with a general rule and derive predictions to test against particular cases. Instead, she compared the cases, identified recurring features, and used those features to formulate a broader principle. Her reasoning was _____.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
Why this answer
Distinguish reasoning from procedure
Correct choice: Inductive
The reasoning proceeds from particular cases to a broader principle. That direction makes it inductive; the passage explicitly contrasts it with starting from a general rule.
A: Deductive reasoning applies premises or general principles to derive conclusions; the described movement is from instances to a general pattern.
B: The passage does not describe manipulating conditions in an experiment.
D: The inference explicitly rests on observations, not an unexplained intuitive judgment.
If you missed it: Track the direction from evidence to conclusion before considering related research terms.
The archivist had documented the manuscript's successive owners in her private notes. During a public interview, however, she was reticent about its provenance: questions about how it reached the collection elicited only a brief assurance that the acquisition had followed museum policy.
As used in the text, what does 'reticent' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Distinguish hesitation from modesty
Correct choice: Reluctant to disclose information
She possesses information about the ownership history but gives an answer that avoids sharing that history. Her reticence concerns a reluctance to disclose information, not a demonstrated gap in her knowledge.
A: Her limited answer concerns ownership history, not praise for the manuscript.
C: She has documented the ownership history. The passage shows withholding information without establishing uncertainty about that history.
D: Withholding information does not establish freedom from bias in evaluating it.
If you missed it: Infer the demonstrated behavior without inventing the speaker's motive.
The panel selected the material for pragmatic reasons: it was inexpensive, locally available, and easy to repair. Members explicitly set aside questions of whether it best expressed the architect's aesthetic ideals.
As used in the text, what does 'pragmatic' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Identify basis of judgment
Correct choice: Practical
Cost, availability, and repair concern workable consequences. 'Practical' captures that basis for selection.
A: The members emphasize real-world use and set aside an ideal-based consideration.
B: No established custom or historical practice is given as a reason.
C: A workable selection is not necessarily made spontaneously or without preparation.
If you missed it: Classify the stated reasons rather than imagining how the decision was made.
The editor scrutinized every citation, checking names, dates, and page numbers against the originals. She found all the citations correct and recommended no changes.
As used in the text, what does 'scrutinized' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Distinguish checking from criticizing
Correct choice: Examined closely
Checking multiple details against originals demonstrates close examination, whether or not errors are found.
A: Detailed checking does not itself mean disputing the citations' validity.
B: The editor recommended no changes; examination is distinct from revision.
D: The passage describes inspecting details, not condensing their content.
If you missed it: Separate an investigative action from a possible outcome of that action.
The newly dated letter does not establish the exact year the novel was begun, but it precludes a start after 1842: the letter explicitly discusses chapters already completed by that date.
As used in the text, what does 'precludes' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Preserve the strength of a conclusion
Correct choice: Rules out
Completed chapters by 1842 exclude a beginning after 1842. The evidence rules out that possibility even though it does not establish the precise starting year.
A: The evidence does not influence an author's future choice; it excludes a historical claim.
C: This is too weak: a later start is incompatible with already completed chapters.
D: The letter changes what can be concluded, not when writing began.
If you missed it: Distinguish uncertainty about an exact answer from certainty that one possibility is impossible.
The director's approach was eclectic: she deliberately combined staging techniques from several theatrical traditions while applying a consistent interpretation of the play throughout.
As used in the text, what does 'eclectic' most nearly mean?
Why this answer
Distinguish adaptation from inconsistency
Correct choice: Drawing from varied sources
The director selects techniques from several traditions. The variety concerns her sources, while her interpretation remains consistent.
B: Deliberate combination and a consistent interpretation contradict aimless changes.
C: She uses techniques from existing traditions rather than rejecting established practices altogether.
D: Several traditions, not one, supply her techniques.
If you missed it: Separate variety of sources from consistency of purpose.