Reading: Words in Context Flashcards

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "The historian's account was not so much inaccurate as it was tendentious, shaping every fact to serve a predetermined conclusion about the war's origins." As used in this sentence, "tendentious" most nearly means:

Answer: Promoting a particular point of view

"Tendentious" means expressing or promoting a particular cause or point of view. The key contrast is 'not so much inaccurate as'—the historian isn't lying, but is shaping facts toward a predetermined conclusion, which is exactly what tendentious writing does. Choice D is tempting but too specific—the word itself just means biased toward a viewpoint, not necessarily through omission.

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "Although the committee praised the proposal's ambition, they found its central argument fugitive—slipping away from scrutiny each time a member attempted to pin down its core claim." As used in this sentence, "fugitive" most nearly means:

Answer: Evasive and difficult to grasp

Here "fugitive" is used in its less common sense of something that eludes capture or comprehension—not the familiar meaning of a person fleeing justice. The phrase 'slipping away from scrutiny each time a member attempted to pin down its core claim' directly defines this usage: the argument is evasive and hard to hold onto intellectually. The context clue 'slipping away' is the key signal.

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "Critics accused the novelist of solipsism, arguing that her characters, however vivid, never transcended their function as mirrors reflecting the author's own obsessions back at her." As used in this sentence, "solipsism" most nearly means:

Answer: Excessive preoccupation with one's own perspective

Solipsism is the philosophical view that only one's own mind and experience exist or matter. When applied to an author, it means an excessive centering of one's own perspective such that even invented characters cannot escape the gravitational pull of the author's self. The mirror metaphor ('reflecting the author's own obsessions back at her') confirms this meaning. Choice A is tempting but misses the mark—the critics say the characters ARE vivid, just self-referential.

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "The senator's speech was a masterpiece of studied ambiguity: every pledge was couched in language that could be honored without ever being kept, a quality her advisors called prudent and her opponents called pusillanimous." As used in this sentence, "pusillanimous" most nearly means:

Answer: Lacking courage or decisiveness

Pusillanimous means showing a lack of courage or determination; timid. The passage sets up a contrast between how the senator's advisors view the same quality (prudent—wise caution) versus how her opponents view it (pusillanimous—cowardly hedging). The opponents see making pledges that can never be pinned down as a failure of moral courage, not mere deception. Choice A is wrong because the emphasis is on cowardice, not dishonesty.

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "The philosopher argued that modern ethics had become wholly proleptic, anticipating catastrophes so distant and speculative that it had lost the capacity to address suffering that was immediate and certain." As used in this sentence, "proleptic" most nearly means:

Answer: Concerned with future events before they occur

Proleptic derives from 'prolepsis'—the rhetorical or philosophical act of anticipating and addressing future events or objections as if they had already occurred. The passage's context makes this clear: the ethics being described focuses on 'catastrophes so distant and speculative,' meaning it is oriented toward the future rather than the present. The contrast with 'immediate and certain' suffering reinforces this temporal dimension.

Read the following passage excerpt and answer the question. "The biographer resisted the hagiographic impulse that had disfigured earlier accounts of the statesman's life, insisting instead on a portrait that preserved all of the subject's considerable contradictions." As used in this sentence, "hagiographic" most nearly means:

Answer: Excessively admiring to the point of distorting the truth

Hagiography originally referred to the writing of saints' lives, which were reverential and idealized by nature. Extended to biography, it means an account so uncritically admiring that it distorts reality. The passage's structure confirms this: the biographer is contrasted with earlier writers who 'disfigured' their accounts, and the remedy is 'preserving contradictions'—the opposite of idealized portraiture. Choice C might seem plausible, but hagiography's defining feature is uncritical praise, not simply a narrow focus.