Question 135·Hard·Words in Context
Although the eighteenth-century naturalist’s field notes are often praised for their meticulous observations, contemporary scholars argue that the author’s occasional lapses into poetic metaphor are ____ the Enlightenment habit of blending artistic and scientific discourse, demonstrating how disciplinary boundaries remained fluid at the time. SАТ рrеp bу Anіkο.ai
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT Words-in-Context questions, always read the entire sentence (and surrounding sentences if given) to understand the relationship the blank must express—support, contrast, cause, example, etc. Paraphrase the sentence in your own words, especially the parts before and after the blank, then decide what kind of word is needed (e.g., “shows,” “contradicts,” “unrelated to”). Only after you’re clear on the needed relationship should you check each answer’s meaning and quickly test it in the sentence for both logical fit and tone, eliminating choices that reverse the relationship, break the logic, or introduce a different idea than the sentence sets up. anikο.аi/ѕаt
Hints
Focus on the clause after the blank
Read carefully from the word "demonstrating" to the end. What does that part say the poetic metaphors are doing in relation to the Enlightenment habit?
Check the direction of the relationship
Does the sentence suggest that the metaphors go against the Enlightenment habit, have nothing to do with it, depend on it, or help show it? Think about which idea matches "demonstrating how disciplinary boundaries remained fluid."
Test the tone and logic of each option
Briefly plug each answer into the blank in your head and see whether it creates a logical, smooth explanation for how the metaphors connect to the Enlightenment habit described.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the overall meaning of the sentence
Paraphrase the sentence in your own words: The naturalist's notes are very detailed, but modern scholars say that the author's poetic metaphors show something about how, in the Enlightenment, people often mixed art and science, and that boundaries between fields were flexible. So the metaphors are being used as evidence of that historical habit.
Use the clause after the comma as a key clue
Look closely at the part after the blank: "demonstrating how disciplinary boundaries remained fluid at the time." This tells you what the metaphors are doing: they demonstrate or show that art and science were often blended. So the word in the blank must be consistent with the idea that the metaphors help reveal or illustrate this Enlightenment habit, not that they contradict or ignore it.
Decide what kind of relationship the blank must show
Ask: Do the metaphors
- conflict with this Enlightenment habit,
- have nothing to do with it,
- depend on it, or
- serve as signs/examples of it?
Because the sentence says the metaphors help demonstrate that boundaries were fluid, they must be connected in a way that makes them evidence or indicators of that habit. Anікο - Freе ЅАТ Рrер
Evaluate each answer choice against that relationship
Now compare each option to the needed meaning:
- contingent upon = dependent on, caused by
- irrelevant to = not related to
- incongruous with = out of place or inconsistent with
- symptomatic of = serving as a sign, indication, or example of a broader condition or trend
Only the last option directly matches the idea that the metaphors help show or indicate this Enlightenment habit, so the best choice is D) symptomatic of.