SAT Reading and Writing
Words in Context
Words in Context is a skill in the Craft and Structure domain of the Digital SAT Reading and Writing section. These are practice questions on it, and each answer choice comes with an explanation of why it is right or wrong.
15 questions. After every answer you’ll see why each choice is right or wrong, not just the one you picked.
Sample questions
Open a question to see the answer choices and the correct answer.
The following text is from a short story. After weeks of drought, a farmer looks out over his fields. The corn stalks stood withered and brittle, their leaves curled tight against the punishing sun. Even the crows, usually bold scavengers of the open field, seemed to have forsaken the barren rows entirely. As used in the text, what does the word "forsaken" most nearly mean?
- A. Punished
- B. Remembered
- C. Abandoned ✓
- D. Forgiven
Correct answer: C. "forsaken" describes the crows as having left the barren rows behind entirely, which matches the meaning "abandoned."
Urban planner Aiko Tanaka argues that pedestrian bridges should do more than simply connect two points; in her view, a well-designed bridge should also function as a ______ space where people pause, gather, and interact, rather than a route that pedestrians cross as quickly as possible. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
- A. restricted
- B. solitary
- C. temporary
- D. communal ✓
Correct answer: D. "communal" captures the idea of a shared space where people gather and interact with one another, matching the rest of the sentence.
Editor Marisol Vega was known for giving her writers wide latitude over their own work; unlike some of her contemporaries, whose editorial decisions for their magazines were notably ______, Vega rarely overruled a writer's stylistic choices even when they diverged from her own preferences. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
- A. dogmatic ✓
- B. inconsistent
- C. unpopular
- D. flexible
Correct answer: A. "dogmatic" describes editors who rigidly impose their own preferences, forming the intended contrast with Vega's hands-off approach.
The old clockmaker regarded the shattered mainspring with something like reverence, turning it over in his palm as though it might yet whisper the secret of its own breaking. His apprentice, impatient to sweep up the debris and begin anew, could not fathom why a broken thing deserved such careful attention, and said so. But the clockmaker only smiled, murmuring that a broken mechanism taught you more about its design than a thousand hours of watching it run smoothly ever could. As used in the text, what does the word reverence most nearly mean?
- A. deep respect ✓
- B. open suspicion
- C. mild irritation
- D. casual indifference
Correct answer: A. Correct — the clockmaker's careful, unhurried handling of the broken part, and his belief that it holds a valuable secret, reflects a feeling of deep respect rather than any negative or dismissive reaction.
When the flood finally receded, the townspeople did not rush to rebuild the levee as the engineers had recommended. Instead, they moved the granary and the schoolhouse to higher ground, a decision the engineers found maddeningly obstinate, since a taller levee would have solved the problem outright. But the townspeople had watched levees fail twice before, and no longer trusted a wall to keep the river in its place. As used in the text, what does the word obstinate most nearly mean?
- A. carelessly indecisive
- B. stubbornly resistant to persuasion ✓
- C. financially impractical
- D. technically incompetent
Correct answer: B. Correct — the engineers are frustrated that the townspeople will not be talked out of their decision even though a levee would, in the engineers' view, solve the problem, which is the essence of stubborn resistance to persuasion.