Question 68·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
In assessing the mayor's controversial redevelopment plan, the editorial board acknowledged that the promised jobs were appealing, but condemned the underlying economic projection as ______, noting that it relied on best-case assumptions and omitted relocation costs.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For SAT Words-in-Context questions, first decide the overall tone (positive, negative, or neutral) and what role the blank plays (describing a person, an argument, a result, etc.). Then use the strongest context clues—often found after commas or words like "but" and "because"—to infer a rough meaning for the blank in your own words (for example, “misleading but persuasive”). Finally, eliminate answer choices that clash with the tone, describe the wrong kind of thing (person vs. argument), or are too weak/strong for the context, and pick the one whose precise meaning best matches the idea you inferred.
Hints
Pay attention to the contrast word
Focus on the word "but": the jobs are appealing, but the projection is condemned. What kind of word in the blank would reflect a strong criticism of the projection?
Use the explanation after the blank
Look closely at the phrase after the comma: the projection "relied on best-case assumptions and omitted relocation costs." What does that tell you about the quality and trustworthiness of the projection?
Check for positive vs. negative meaning
Ask yourself: is the missing word supposed to be positive, negative, or neutral in this context? Eliminate any answer choice whose overall tone does not fit a harsh editorial criticism.
Think about what kind of thing is being described
The blank describes an economic projection (a type of argument or forecast), not a person. Remove any choices that more naturally describe a person’s character or behavior rather than a prediction or argument.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation and tone
The sentence describes an editorial board evaluating a controversial redevelopment plan. They admit the promised jobs are appealing, but they condemn the economic projection. So the tone toward the projection is clearly negative and critical.
Use the explanation after the comma
After the blank, the sentence explains why they condemn the projection: it "relied on best-case assumptions and omitted relocation costs." That means the projection is based on unrealistic optimism and leaves out important expenses. So we need a word that means something like "misleading or unsound" because it looks good but is not trustworthy.
Eliminate options that don’t match meaning or tone
Go through each option and test quickly against the context:
- The word in the blank must be negative, because the projection is condemned.
- It must describe a flawed or misleading argument, not something about being unclear, helpful, or stubborn. Any word that is neutral/positive, or that describes a personality trait instead of an argument, should be eliminated.
Match the precise meaning to the context
A) specious describes something (often an argument or reasoning) that seems correct or persuasive on the surface but is actually false or misleading—exactly like an economic projection that uses only best-case assumptions and ignores costs. The other choices do not match this idea, so the correct answer is A) specious.