Question 59·Medium·Words in Context
Because the meteor shower was expected to reach its peak hours earlier, the few meteors that continued to streak across the sky at dawn were merely _____ of the event.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT Words-in-Context questions, start by ignoring the answer choices and paraphrasing the sentence in your own words, especially using time clues (before, during, after) and tone (main event vs. leftover). Decide what role the missing word plays—does it describe something beginning, peaking, ending, or remaining? Then check each option’s core meaning (not just a vague feeling) and eliminate any that don’t match the sentence’s time frame or logic. Finally, plug the best remaining choice back into the sentence to confirm it sounds natural and keeps the meaning consistent.
Hints
Pay attention to the timing words
Focus on the clause “was expected to reach its peak hours earlier”. By the time it is dawn, is the meteor shower at its beginning, in the middle, or after its main part?
Use the phrase around the blank
Look carefully at “the few meteors that continued to streak across the sky at dawn were merely ___ of the event.” What does this tell you about how important these last meteors are compared to the full meteor shower?
Classify the answer choices by when they occur
Think about whether each option usually describes something that comes before an event, is an unusual part of it, or is the peak or leftover after it. Which type fits meteors that appear after the supposed peak?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation in the sentence
The sentence says the meteor shower was expected to reach its peak hours earlier. That means by dawn, the main part of the meteor shower should already be over. Only a few meteors are still streaking across the sky at that late time.
Infer what kind of word is needed
Because the main event is already past its peak, the few meteors at dawn are a small, leftover part of the event. The phrase “were merely ___ of the event” suggests that the meteors at dawn are not a new or main occurrence; they’re a minor trace or leftover connected to something that already happened.
Match each option to the sentence’s meaning
Now look at each option’s basic meaning and see if it fits the idea of a leftover part after the main event:
- harbingers: things that signal something is about to happen (they come before an event).
- remnants: small remaining parts of something that has been used, destroyed, or has mostly ended.
- outliers: items that are different from the rest, often used for unusual data points.
- culminations: the highest or final point of something, the peak or climax. Think about which meaning fits meteors appearing after the expected peak of the shower.
Select the word that best fits the context
The sentence needs a word meaning leftover pieces of an event that has already passed its main peak. Only “remnants” has that meaning, so the best answer is B) remnants.