Question 150·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Before a 1912 handbook appeared, researchers at several laboratories had independently begun favoring the same name for a mineral structure. Yet they still published under rival names, and because the laboratories had not coordinated their usage, this shared preference had not become a common standard. The handbook then used the favored name exclusively; within a decade, researchers routinely cited its usage when rejecting the alternatives. The handbook thus drew on an emerging preference but helped _____ terminological agreement.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a difficult words-in-context question, distinguish closely related stages such as preference, agreement, approval, and standardization. Identify what existed before the event and what emerged afterward, then reject verbs whose meanings presuppose a condition the passage says had not yet been established.
Hints
Separate two stages
Determine whether the laboratories' early shared preference was already a common standard.
Consider each verb's prerequisite
Ask whether each choice requires an existing agreement, a formal decision, a system of rules, or the establishment of something new.
Step-by-step Explanation
Distinguish preference from agreement
Before the handbook appeared, multiple laboratories favored the same name, but they still used competing names and had not established a common standard. Their shared preference therefore did not yet amount to terminological agreement.
Identify the handbook's role
The handbook used one name exclusively, and researchers later cited that usage when rejecting alternatives. Its choice contributed to the establishment of a common practice rather than merely approving or strengthening one that already existed.
Select the precise verb
To “forge” an agreement is to bring it into existence. That meaning fits the movement from scattered preference to established agreement.