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SAT Reading: Why Does Thoreau Use the Phrase "Mechanical Aids" in this Passage?
58 Views

Thoreau was all about simplicity; anything that took away from his vision was the enemy. Mechanical aids were one of them. Guess he had to train a...

SAT Reading: Suggesting a Reason for Thoreau's Word Choice
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Thoreau wants our lives to be simplified. He claims that we gain less from life when we over-complicate things.

How Does Thoreau Feel about Commerce?
41 Views

How does Thoreau feel about commerce? He writes, "We don't ride upon the railroad; it rides upon us." He wants and end to the war fighting for the...

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SAT Reading 4.9 Sentence Completion 165 Views


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Description:

SAT Reading Sentence Completion Drill 4, Problem 9

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

You look like you could use another shmoopy question...

00:07

Which word could fill in the blank so that the sentence below makes sense?

00:11

Participants in the food drive were dismayed by the blank of contributions this year and

00:14

struggled to compensate the needy with funds.

00:18

And here are the potential answers...

00:25

The participants in the food drive had to kick in some cold hard cash to make up for

00:29

the fact they didn't get many donations.

00:31

Man, where's the love in their community?

00:35

Anyway, we know we're looking for an answer choice that describes this downer of a shortage.

00:40

We can nix "siege" easily, since it doesn't have anything to do with a shortage at all...

00:45

...instead referring to an attack that cuts off access to supplies.

00:49

Choices (B), (C), and (D) are all the opposite of what we're looking for.

00:53

"Profusion" means a large quantity...

00:56

..."deluge" means a downpour or flood...

00:58

...and "barrage" means a military bombardment... or something that feels like one.

01:03

If any of these things had happened, there would've been plenty of food.

01:07

"Dearth" describes when there's a scarcity or shortage of something, so it looks like

01:12

(A) is the one and only answer.

01:14

Here's hoping there's no dearth of delicious old canned foods in our future.

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