Question 180·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure

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When tracing the emergence of standardized spelling, language historian Celia Okafor notes that printers in commercially dominant cities often favored spellings no clearer than their rivals. Publishers elsewhere then copied those forms because books from the dominant cities had made them familiar to readers. Okafor adds that if other cities had controlled the book trade, equally clear rival forms might now be standard. In her account, standardization was ______.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

For a words-in-context question, determine the relationship the blank must express before comparing the options. Then distinguish close choices by checking whether each one adds an unsupported idea, such as inevitability, randomness, or deliberate planning.

Hints

Hint 1
Focus on the contrast
The text contrasts linguistic superiority with the commercial circumstances that allowed certain spellings to spread.
Hint 2
Separate cause from intention
Consider whether the passage presents standardization as planned, unavoidable, without any cause, or dependent on historical conditions.

Step-by-step

Step 1
Identify the cause described
The forms used by printers in commercially dominant cities spread because those printers' books circulated widely.
Step 2
Determine the required meaning
The blank must describe an outcome that depended on particular circumstances of trade. The text does not characterize the outcome as necessary, random, or intentionally planned.
Step 3
Choose the precise word
“Contingent” means dependent on certain conditions, so it accurately describes how commercial circumstances shaped standardization.

Question 180·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure

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