Question 21·Hard·Words in Context
Historians once regarded the peaceful transfer of power from the Adams administration to Jefferson's as a mere procedural formality, but recent scholarship suggests the moment was ______: it reinforced the nascent republic's commitment to constitutional limits and popular sovereignty.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For Words-in-Context questions, first identify any contrast words (like "but") and punctuation (like colons) that show how the blank relates to the rest of the sentence. Then, restate in your own words what the blank must mean based on these clues, without looking at the choices yet. Finally, plug each option into the sentence and eliminate those that don't match the logical role (contrast vs. agreement, cause vs. effect) or the tone suggested by the surrounding context.
Hints
Pay attention to the contrast word
Focus on the word "but": the blank must describe how the new scholarship views the moment, in contrast to the old view that it was "a mere procedural formality."
Use the clause after the colon
The phrase after the colon ("it reinforced the nascent republic's commitment to constitutional limits and popular sovereignty") is explaining or restating the blank. Think about what kind of description of the moment could be supported by that explanation.
Check each choice against the logic of the sentence
For each option, ask: If the moment "reinforced" the new republic's core political principles, would that make sense as a reason to describe the moment this way? Cross out any option that suggests the event was still trivial, just weird, or simply guaranteed to occur.
Step-by-step Explanation
Use the contrast signal
Notice the structure: "Historians once regarded ... as a mere procedural formality, but recent scholarship suggests the moment was ____: ..." The word "but" tells you the blank should contrast with "mere procedural formality" (something routine and unimportant). So the new view must be different from seeing it as routine.
Use the colon as a clue
The colon after the blank introduces an explanation or restatement of the blank: "it reinforced the nascent republic's commitment to constitutional limits and popular sovereignty." Whatever word fills the blank must be something that can be explained by this clause. Ask: what kind of moment would be described by saying it reinforced the country's core political principles?
Test each option against the explanation
Go through the choices and mentally plug each one into the blank, then see if the explanation "it reinforced the nascent republic's commitment to constitutional limits and popular sovereignty" makes sense as a reason for that description. Eliminate any words that would mean the event was trivial, merely odd, or simply bound to happen, because the explanation emphasizes its role in shaping and supporting key values.
Choose the word that matches a central, consequence-heavy moment
A moment that helped reinforce the new republic’s fundamental principles would be a pivotal moment—one that is central and crucial to the development of the system. This directly contrasts with the earlier view of it as a minor formality and is logically explained by the clause after the colon, so “pivotal” is the correct answer.