Question 53·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
The city council’s decision to replace the centuries-old cobblestone streets was meant to modernize the downtown district, but for longtime residents the plan felt _____, stripping the neighborhood of the very charm tourists came to see.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT Words-in-Context questions, always read a few lines around the blank, then restate the sentence in your own simple words, focusing on tone (positive/negative) and what specifically is happening (e.g., loss of tradition, praise, criticism). Next, decide what kind of word is needed (for example, “strongly disapproving of destroying tradition”) before you look at the choices. Then, go through each option by its exact definition, not just its “feel,” and eliminate any that don’t precisely match your paraphrase, even if they sound sophisticated or vaguely similar. This prevents you from being trapped by choices that look advanced but don’t fit the context.
Hints
Use the contrast in the sentence
Focus on the word “but” and the phrase after the comma. How do longtime residents feel about the decision, and is that feeling positive or negative?
Think about what is being lost
The plan is described as stripping the neighborhood of charm tied to centuries-old cobblestone streets. What kind of word would describe a plan that removes or goes against something traditional and cherished?
Check each option’s basic idea
For each choice, quickly recall its general meaning and ask: Does this describe criticizing the destruction of old, charming traditions, or does it describe something else (like showiness, predicting the future, or being unsure)? Eliminate the ones that clearly don’t fit.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation in the sentence
First, describe in your own words what is happening:
- The city council wants to modernize the downtown area by replacing very old cobblestone streets.
- But longtime residents dislike this; they think it is stripping the neighborhood of charm that attracts tourists.
That contrast word “but” signals that the blank describes the negative way longtime residents feel about the plan.
Infer the meaning needed for the blank
Ask: How do the longtime residents see the plan?
- They think the plan removes the very charm that makes the neighborhood special.
- The cobblestone streets are centuries-old, so they are part of a longstanding tradition or heritage.
So the missing word should describe something that goes against or attacks cherished traditions and is viewed negatively by those who value them.
Match each answer choice to the sentence’s meaning and tone
Now, test each option against that idea:
- We need a word that fits residents seeing the plan as a bad change that destroys tradition and charm.
- We do not want a word mainly about being showy, predicting the future, or being unsure.
Go through the choices:
- (A) A word about being flashy or showy doesn’t match the focus on loss of historic charm.
- (B) A word about accurately predicting the future would make the plan sound wise, not harmful.
- (D) A word for having mixed feelings would suggest residents are uncertain, but the sentence makes their disapproval very clear.
That leaves (C) as the only option that describes challenging or attacking long-held traditions, which fits how the residents feel about replacing historic cobblestones. The correct answer is iconoclastic.