Question 113·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Although the committee praised the mayor's plan for affordable housing as ambitious, several members doubted that the initiative would yield anything more than ______ progress, predicting that any early gains would quickly stall amid bureaucratic delays.
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, paying special attention to contrast words (like "although" or "but") and any explanations that follow commas or dashes. Turn the context into a simple prediction in your own words (for example, "The progress will be real but very short-lived"). Then, test each choice by plugging it into the sentence and checking whether it matches your prediction exactly in meaning and tone; eliminate words that are close but miss the key idea (such as focusing on size instead of duration, or on being unreal instead of short-lived).
Hints
Locate the strongest clue
Look carefully at the part after the comma: it explains what will happen to the early gains from the initiative. How does that affect the kind of progress the committee expects?
Think about duration, not just size
The committee thinks there will be early gains, but then something will happen to them. Ask yourself: are they doubting that the gains will be real, or are they doubting how long the gains will last?
Test each choice in the sentence
Mentally plug each word into the blank and reread the sentence. Which one makes the most sense with the idea that early gains will "quickly stall" because of bureaucratic delays?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the overall situation and tone
First, paraphrase the sentence in your own words. The committee likes the mayor's plan and calls it ambitious, but some members are skeptical. They think the plan will not produce lasting results because early gains will quickly stall due to bureaucratic delays. So the blank must describe a kind of progress that does not last.
Use the key context clue
Focus on the clause after the comma: "predicting that any early gains would quickly stall amid bureaucratic delays." This tells you that there will be some progress at first, but it will stop quickly. So the missing word should describe progress that is real but very brief or short-term, not imaginary and not steady or long-lasting.
Check each answer choice against the context
Go through the meanings of the choices and see how they fit the idea of early gains that quickly stall:
- "illusory" means based on illusion, not real.
- "incremental" means happening in small steps, gradually increasing.
- "meteoric" usually describes something that rises very fast and dramatically, like a meteoric rise.
- "ephemeral" means lasting for a very short time. Now ask: Which of these best matches the idea that the progress is real but very brief because it stops quickly?
Choose the word that best matches "brief, then stops"
The sentence clearly implies that the plan will produce some genuine progress, but it will be short-lived because early gains "quickly stall." The word that precisely captures real but very short-lasting progress is "ephemeral", so choice D) ephemeral is correct.