To compare nineteenth-century factories, an early labor survey reduced each workplace’s accident record to a single “severity score.” Although the score made factories easy to rank, a historian cautions that this procedure could ______ important differences among workplaces: a factory with one catastrophic accident and another with many minor injuries might receive the same score, even though the two patterns called for different reforms.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a challenging Words-in-Context question, identify both the grammatical object of the blank and the specific consequence illustrated by the surrounding text. Distinguish a procedure’s surface method from its actual effect: here, producing a number is the method, while the treatment of meaningful differences is the effect the missing word must describe. Then compare the choices for denotation, scope, and contextual precision rather than choosing one associated with a single nearby detail.
Hints
Focus on the object of the verb
Ask what happens to the differences among workplaces, not merely what the survey does with numbers.
Examine the two accident patterns
Consider why giving the same score to one catastrophic accident and many minor injuries could be misleading.
Separate method from result
A numerical method may appear to measure distinctions accurately. Determine whether the example shows those distinctions being measured, resolved, intensified, or reduced.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the blank describes
The missing verb applies to important differences among workplaces. The question is therefore asking what the scoring procedure does to distinctions between different accident records.
Use the example after the colon
One factory has a single catastrophic accident, while another has many minor injuries. If both receive the same score, the procedure makes these meaningfully different patterns appear equivalent even though they require different reforms.
Distinguish the procedure from its effect
The survey uses numbers, but that does not mean it accurately measures the differences between workplaces. In this example, converting complex records into one score suppresses variation and nuance rather than preserving them.
Select the most precise word
To flatten differences is to reduce or erase meaningful variation, often through oversimplification. That meaning precisely matches the effect of assigning the same score to distinct accident patterns, so flatten is the best choice.