Question 99·Hard·Words in Context
The historian argues that the concept of "progress" during the Industrial Revolution often served to ______ the detrimental effects of unfettered economic expansion, allowing contemporaries to overlook widespread labor abuses.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT Words-in-Context questions, always start by paraphrasing the sentence and identifying the key clue words around the blank—especially contrast words (like "but") or result words (like "so," "allowing"). Replace the blank with a simple word of your own (like "hide," "help," "criticize") based on the sentence meaning, then choose the answer whose dictionary meaning is closest to your own word and fits the tone (positive/negative) and logic of the sentence. Eliminate any choice that would reverse the cause-effect relationship or contradict the clue words, even if it sounds sophisticated.
Hints
Look closely at the clause after the comma
Pay special attention to the phrase "allowing contemporaries to overlook widespread labor abuses." Ask yourself: what must happen to the detrimental effects for people to be able to overlook the abuses?
Decide whether the effects become more or less visible
Think about whether the missing verb should describe the detrimental effects as being made more noticeable or less noticeable. Which one would better explain why people could overlook the abuses?
Check the logical relationship
For each answer choice, imagine it in the sentence and see if it logically leads to people overlooking abuses. If the choice would make people more aware of the abuses, it probably does not fit.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the basic meaning of the sentence
Paraphrase the sentence in your own words: The historian is saying that during the Industrial Revolution, the idea of "progress" was used in a way that affected how people saw the harmful results of rapid economic growth. Because of this, people at the time were able to ignore or miss the reality of widespread labor abuses.
Use the key clue after the comma
Focus on the phrase "allowing contemporaries to overlook widespread labor abuses". If something allows people to overlook abuses, it means those abuses are being hidden, covered up, or made less visible/less clear in some way. So the blank needs a word that shows the negative effects were made harder to see or notice, not more obvious.
Match your own idea to the choices
Based on the context, you could fill in the blank with a word like "hide," "conceal," or "cover up" the detrimental effects. Now compare that meaning to each answer choice:
- A word that means "make bigger or more noticeable" would clash with "overlook."
- A word that means "prove right" or "confirm" does not suggest people miss or fail to notice abuses.
- A word that means "praise" or "honor" also does not mean hide. Only one choice means "make less visible or clear", which fits with people being able to overlook the abuses.
Choose the word that best fits the context
"Obscure" means to hide, conceal, or make something less clear or less visible, which perfectly matches the idea that the concept of "progress" helped hide the harmful effects so people could overlook labor abuses. Therefore, the correct answer is B) obscure.