SECTION 8 1
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer C : Choice (C) is correct. "Prey" means victim. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "A swindler’s prey is usually a gullible person who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps." A "swindler" is a con man or crook. People who are cheated by a swindler are victims. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. "Peer" means equal. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "A swindler’s peer is usually a gullible person who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps." A "swindler" is a con man or crook, and someone who is a swindler's equal would be another swindler. Such a person would not be described as gullible. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. "Ally" means a person who joins with another for a common purpose. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "A swindler’s ally is usually a gullible person who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps." A "swindler" is a con man or crook, and a swindler's "ally" would be one of the swindler's partners. Such a person would understand how the swindler tricks people and would thus be unlikely to be caught in the swindler's traps. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Nemesis" means successful rival. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "A swindler’s nemesis is usually a gullible person who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps." A "swindler" is a con man or crook, and the successful rival of a swindler would not be described as "usually a gullible person." Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. "Superior" means a person in a higher position. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "A swindler’s superior is usually a gullible person who is unable to resist the swindler’s traps." A "swindler" is a con man or crook. A swindler's "superior" would be someone with an advantage in power or intelligence over the swindler, and such a person would be unlikely to become a victim of the swindler. 2
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer C : Choice (C) is correct. "Expand" means to increase, and "variety" means an assortment of different things. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Improvements in refrigeration and transportation in the nineteenth century expanded the variety of available food for many families in the United States." Improvements naturally involve positive changes, and increasing the types of things that are available to people is obviously a change for the better. This sentence therefore makes sense. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. "Slow" means to move at a reduced speed, and "distribution" means handing something out. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Improvements in refrigeration and transportation in the nineteenth century slowed the distribution of available food for many families in the United States." Changes in transportation that resulted in "slowing" the handing out of available food could not be reasonably called improvements. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. "Accelerate" means to speed up, and "perishability" means the tendency to spoil. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Improvements in refrigeration and transportation in the nineteenth century accelerated the perishability of available food for many families in the United States." It is illogical to say that improvements in refrigeration would make food spoil faster. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Lower" means to decrease, and "amount" means number or quantity. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Improvements in refrigeration and transportation in the nineteenth century lowered the amount of available food for many families in the United States." It is illogical to claim that improvements in refrigeration and transportation would decrease the quantity of available food. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. "Create" means to make, and "dearth" means a severe lack of. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Improvements in refrigeration and transportation in the nineteenth century created the dearth of available food for many families in the United States." One would not expect a severe lack of available food to be a result of improvements in refrigeration and transportation. 3
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer A : Choice (A) is correct. "Comparison" means to consider the similarities between two things, and "inevitable" means unavoidable. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Although Eudora Welty and William Faulkner wrote in distinctively different styles, comparison between the two is inevitable because they both lived in and wrote about Mississippi." The word "although" signals that the second part of the sentence will contradict the first. Given that Welty and Faulkner are very different, one would not expect them to be studied for their similarities, thus a "comparison" between the two fits the logic of the sentence. Moreover, the information provided at the end of the sentence, that Welty and Faulkner are both from Mississippi, explains why this unlikely "comparison" is in fact unavoidable. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. "Cooperation" means working together, and "destructive" means likely to destroy. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Although Eudora Welty and William Faulkner wrote in distinctively different styles, cooperation between the two is destructive because they both lived in and wrote about Mississippi." There is no reason to believe that anything would have been destroyed if Welty and Faulkner had worked together. "Cooperation" between people is typically helpful, not "destructive." Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. "Discord" means disagreement, and "legendary" in this context means so well known that people tell stories about it. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Although Eudora Welty and William Faulkner wrote in distinctively different styles, discord between the two is legendary because they both lived in and wrote about Mississippi." The word "although" signals that the second part of the sentence will contradict the first. However, disagreement between writers who write in different styles is not particularly unexpected. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Similarity" means being alike, and "unlikely" means not probable. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Although Eudora Welty and William Faulkner wrote in distinctively different styles, similarity between the two is unlikely because they both lived in and wrote about Mississippi." It is not sensible to say that "similarity" is "unlikely" between two people who lived in and wrote about the same state. Two writers who lived in and wrote about Mississippi would be relatively alike. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. "Rivalry" means a competition, and "redundant" means repeating something unnecessarily. If one were to insert these terms into the text, the sentence would read "Although Eudora Welty and William Faulkner wrote in distinctively different styles, rivalry between the two is redundant because they both lived in and wrote about Mississippi." A competition between two people would not be referred to as "redundant." If a competition between two people is repeated, one would assume that the repetition of the competition is in some way necessary. 4
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer B : Choice (B) is correct. "Demonstrative" means showing feelings openly. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Cito Gaston, one of the least demonstrative baseball managers, surprised reporters by weeping openly after his team won the play-offs." This sentence makes sense because a person who is not "demonstrative" would be unlikely to show his feelings. Observers would therefore be surprised to see that person weeping. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. "Somber" in this context means gloomy and sad. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Cito Gaston, one of the least somber baseball managers, surprised reporters by weeping openly after his team won the play-offs." If Cito Gaston were one of the least gloomy baseball managers, the reporters would not be surprised at all to see him openly expressing his joy at winning. Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. "Insufferable" means intolerable or extremely annoying. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Cito Gaston, one of the least insufferable baseball managers, surprised reporters by weeping openly after his team won the play-offs." It makes no sense to say that Cito Gaston, one of the least annoying baseball managers, surprised reporters by his display of happiness. This implies that the manager's display annoyed the reporters, which is illogical. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Bountiful" means generous. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Cito Gaston, one of the least bountiful baseball managers, surprised reporters by weeping openly after his team won the play-offs." There is no logical connection between thinking of a person as not generous and seeing that person display happiness. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. "Wistful" means thoughtful and sad. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Cito Gaston, one of the least wistful baseball managers, surprised reporters by weeping openly after his team won the play-offs." A person described as "one of the least wistful baseball managers" would have a reputation for being happy, so a display of happiness upon winning would not surprise anyone. 5
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer E : Choice (E) is correct. "Opacity" means being impossible to see through or, in this context, extremely difficult to understand. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "That critic’s writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its opacity hard to penetrate." This sentence makes sense because a piece of writing that is obscure and dense would be very difficult to understand upon first reading it. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. "Brevity" means being very short. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "That critic’s writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its brevity hard to penetrate." There is no logical connection between writing that is obscure and dense and writing featuring "brevity," or few words. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. "Rigidity" means being stiff. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "That critic’s writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its rigidity hard to penetrate." Though obscurity, density, and stiffness are all negative qualities of writing, they are not connected in the way the sentence portrays. Writing that is obscure and dense would not necessarily be stiff. Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. "Floridity" means being flowery. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "That critic’s writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its floridity hard to penetrate." Flowery writing may have many unnecessary words or an inappropriate tone, but it is not necessarily dense or obscure. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Harmony" means being orderly and pleasing. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "That critic’s writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its harmony hard to penetrate." When a piece of writing is described as obscure or dense, it is because the reader considers it to be poorly ordered and definitely not pleasing. | 
