A words in context question with a concluding blank tests whether you can name what the evidence shows. Read the whole text and find the clue for the conclusion, using linking words to see which finding supports it. When numbers are involved, compare the same measure across the groups. Then predict the blank in plain words, and test each word’s meaning against that prediction. A word can point in the right direction and still describe something the text hasn’t shown.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for the word that leads into the conclusion in the last sentence. Which earlier results does it tell you to use?
- Hint 2
Compare each measure separately. Check the strains recognized, the aggregate binding, and the percentages for both populations.
- Hint 3
Describe the percentage changes in plain words. How does each strain’s share compare between the precursor and descendant populations?
Step-by-step
Compare what changed
Step 1Find the conclusion’s evidence
The final sentence’s therefore makes it a conclusion, so the blank must name what the mutations did to binding. Which evidence should guide us? The study compares precursor cells with their descendants. The study’s results decide the verb, not the opening inference about broader specificity.
- Step 2
Compare the measurements and predict
Compare the range, the total, and the shares. The descendants recognized only those same three strains and showed nearly the same aggregate binding, so the strains and total stayed about the same. What changed? The shares went from 70%, 15%, and 15% to 45%, 30%, and 25%: the original strain received a smaller share, while both variants received larger ones. Predict a shift toward a more even split, rather than more binding overall.
- Step 3
Test narrowing and growth
Restricted means narrowed or limited. Does that fit the study? The descendants recognized only those same three strains, so the response didn’t become narrower. Amplified means increased or made stronger, but nearly the same aggregate binding shows no large rise overall. Neither word describes the changed shares.
- Step 4
Choose the precise change
Concentrated means focused more heavily on one part, but the largest share fell from 70% to 45%. Rebalanced means changed how the portions are divided. The descendants’ 45%, 30%, and 25% shares form a more even split, though they aren’t equal, so this verb names the change the study shows. Choice B.