DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Words in Context - Medium
DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Words in Context – Medium
DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Words in Context – Medium is part of Craft and Structure : This section evaluates skills in understanding advanced academic vocabulary words from the context they are used in, analyzing an author’s rhetorical (persuasive writing) techniques and purpose, and synthesizing key ideas by making connections between multiple related texts on a topic.
Weightage : 20%
Subtopic: Cross-Text Connections
Question
The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1837 story “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” The main character, a physician, is experimenting with rehydrating a dried flower.
At first [the rose] lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing to imbibe none of its moisture. Soon, however, a singular change began to be visible. The crushed and dried petals stirred and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber.
As used in the text, what does the phrase “a singular” most nearly mean?
A. A lonely
B. A disagreeable
C. An acceptable
D. An extraordinary
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans. D
Correct Answer: D
Rationale
Choice D is the best answer because as used in the text, “singular” most nearly means extraordinary. The text portrays an experiment in which a character rehydrates a dried rose by infusing it with moisture. After
prolonged contact with the liquid, the rose begins to absorb it, undergoing an exceptional transformation: its color deepens, its previously “crushed and dried” petals shift, and the entire flower revives “from a deathlike
slumber.” In other words, an extraordinary change is visible in the flower.
Choice A is incorrect. Although in some contexts “singular” can mean of or relating to an individual or to a single instance of something, this usage doesn’t imply loneliness or an otherwise unsatisfactory condition of isolation. Moreover, the text doesn’t attribute such a condition to the rose. Choice B is incorrect. Although “singular” has several related meanings, none of them relate to being disagreeable or unpleasant. Moreover, the text doesn’t portray the change undergone by the rose as necessarily disagreeable. Choice C is incorrect because “singular” means extraordinary, not acceptable. The change is portrayed as striking, not barely satisfactory.
Question
The work of molecular biophysicist Enrique M. De La Cruz is known for ______ traditional boundaries between academic disciplines. The university laboratory that De La Cruz runs includes engineers, biologists, chemists, and physicists, and the research the lab produces makes use of insights and techniques from all those fields.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A. epitomizing
B. transcending
C. anticipating
D. reinforcing
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans. B
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is the best answer. Based on the text, we’re looking for a word that means something similar to “mak[ing] use of insights and techniques from all those fields.” “Transcending” means “going beyond,” so
“transcending traditional boundaries” would mean crossing into all those various fields of research, which is exactly the meaning we want.
Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t a logical word choice. Based on the text, we’re looking for a word that means something similar to “mak[ing] use of insights and techniques from all those fields.” To “epitomize” means to “be a perfect example of,” so “epitomizing traditional boundaries” would mean the opposite of what we want: keeping the fields of research separate. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t a logical word choice. Based on the text, we’re looking for a word that means something similar to “mak[ing] use of insights and techniques from all those fields.” “Anticipating” means “expecting” or “waiting for,” and would result in a confusing sentence with an unclear meaning. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t a logical word choice. Based on the text, we’re looking for a word that means something similar to “mak[ing] use of insights and techniques from all those fields.” “Reinforcing traditional boundaries” would mean the opposite: keeping the fields of research separate.