Question 108·Hard·Words in Context
In updating the museum’s catalog of eighteenth-century scientific instruments, curator Lian Chen ______ the term experimental from its original narrow sense—denoting apparatus used solely for classroom demonstration—to a broader one that also encompasses devices employed in field measurement, thereby aligning modern descriptions with historical usage.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For Words-in-Context questions, first ignore the choices and paraphrase what the sentence is saying, using the clues before and after the blank (especially contrast words like “from” and “to,” and explanations after commas or dashes). Turn that paraphrase into a rough meaning for the missing word (for example, “changed how the word is understood by shifting its framework”). Then test each answer choice against your prediction, eliminating those that clash with the sentence’s logic or tone, rather than picking a word just because you vaguely recognize it.
Hints
Use the “from … to …” structure
Look at the phrase “from its original narrow sense … to a broader one.” Ask yourself: what kind of action takes something from one way of being understood to a broader way?
Notice what the curator is not doing
Is the curator rejecting the term, copying it from someone else, or simply making it worse—or is she adjusting how it is used and understood while still keeping it?
Connect the end of the sentence
Focus on “thereby aligning modern descriptions with historical usage.” What kind of action would bring current usage into line with how the term was used in the past?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence’s story
First, restate what is happening:
- The curator is updating a museum catalog.
- She is dealing with the term experimental.
- The sentence explains how she is changing the way that term is used in the catalog.
Focus on the key clues around the blank
Look carefully at the phrases after the blank:
- “from its original narrow sense—denoting apparatus used solely for classroom demonstration—to a broader one that also encompasses devices employed in field measurement”
- “thereby aligning modern descriptions with historical usage”
These show that she is not throwing away the term. Instead, she is broadening and adjusting its meaning so that today’s catalog matches the way the word was actually used in the past. In other words, she is changing how the term is understood by placing it in a different framework or situation.
Predict the general meaning needed
Based on those clues, you can make a rough prediction for the blank:
- The verb should mean something like “changed the way the term is understood by putting it in a different framework or situation”.
- It should keep the term but shift its sense from one use (classroom demonstrations only) to a broader use (demonstrations plus field measurements), in line with history.
So you want a word about adjusting meaning or interpretation via context, not copying, rejecting, or worsening it.
Match your prediction to the answer choices
Now check each option against that prediction:
- emulated = imitated or tried to match something, usually out of admiration. That would mean she is copying something, not changing the term’s sense.
- disavowed = denied responsibility for or refused to support. That would mean she is rejecting the term experimental, which contradicts the sentence (she still uses it, just more broadly).
- compounded = added to or combined in a way that often makes something worse or more complex. That doesn’t fit the idea of fine-tuning a term’s meaning to match historical usage.
- recontextualized = placed or interpreted something in a new context, thus changing how it is understood.
Only “recontextualized” captures the idea of changing the meaning of experimental by shifting the context from a narrow, classroom-only sense to a broader, historically accurate one, so A) recontextualized is correct.