Question 44·Medium·Words in Context
In this regard, the committee’s investigation was anything but ______: over twenty auditors painstakingly traced financial transactions spanning two decades and interviewed dozens of witnesses before drawing their conclusions.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT words-in-context questions, first underline any key signal phrases like "anything but," "rather than," or "even though" that show contrast or emphasis. Then restate the sentence in your own simple words to capture the basic idea (for example: "The investigation was very thorough and careful, not rushed"). Before looking closely at the choices, decide whether you need a positive or negative word and what general meaning it should have (careful vs. careless, strong vs. weak, etc.). Finally, plug each option into the sentence and eliminate any that don’t clearly match the sentence’s overall meaning and tone; don’t be distracted by rare or fancy words that don’t fit the context.
Hints
Focus on the contrast signal
Notice the phrase "anything but" before the blank. This means the investigation was definitely not whatever word goes in the blank. Use the detailed description after the colon to figure out what kind of thing it was not.
Use the description after the colon
Read carefully: over twenty auditors worked, they "painstakingly" traced transactions for twenty years, and they interviewed many witnesses. Ask yourself: what qualities of the investigation do these details emphasize?
Match the general idea, not tiny nuances
Decide in simple terms what kind of investigation is described (for example, rushed vs. careful, weak vs. strong, praising vs. neutral). Then eliminate any answer choices whose basic meaning doesn’t fit with that overall idea when placed after "anything but".
Test each option in the sentence
Quickly plug each choice into the blank: "the investigation was anything but ____." For each one, ask: does this make sense with the idea of many auditors working painstakingly over decades?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the structure: "anything but ______"
The phrase "anything but" means "definitely not" and usually signals a strong contrast. So the sentence is saying the committee’s investigation was not at all whatever word fills the blank. The rest of the sentence after the colon will tell you what the investigation was like, so the blank must be a word that is the opposite of that description.
Use the context after the colon
Look at the description:
- "over twenty auditors"
- "painstakingly traced financial transactions spanning two decades"
- "interviewed dozens of witnesses"
- all of this happened before drawing conclusions.
This shows the investigation was extremely thorough, careful, and detailed, taking a lot of time and effort.
Decide what kind of word is needed
Because the investigation is described as careful and thorough, the blank must be a word that means the opposite of careful and thorough — something like shallow, done quickly, or with little care. Then, the phrase "anything but [blank]" will correctly mean "definitely not shallow / not quick and careless," which matches the rest of the sentence.
Evaluate each answer choice and select the best match
Check each option against the idea of "quick, shallow, or careless" and the structure "anything but [word]":
- tenuous: means weak, slight, or not firm.
- impulsive: means done suddenly without careful thought.
- laudatory: means expressing praise.
- perfunctory: means done with little effort or attention, just going through the motions.
Only "perfunctory" is the opposite of a careful, painstaking investigation. So saying the investigation was "anything but perfunctory" correctly emphasizes that it was very thorough. Therefore, the correct answer is B) perfunctory.