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SAT Reading 1.3 Passage Comparison 200 Views


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Description:

SAT Reading: Passage Comparison Drill 1, Problem 3

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:02

Open wide! It's time for your daily dose of Shmoop...

00:06

Pause, and behold -- the triumphant return

00:09

of passages one and two...

00:15

In line 18, "folly" most nearly means...what?

00:18

And here are the potential answers...

00:24

Let's take a quick look back at line 18 to see how the mysterious word, "folly," is used.

00:30

OK, it seems like the word needs to have a negative connotation, since this author is

00:35

unabashedly biased against the would-be censors.

00:41

Also, we note the magic conjunction "and" between "folly' and "shortsightedness"...

00:45

...which lets us know that the two have to go together in some way.

00:51

The "fore" in "foresightedness" sounds like the "fore" in "before."

00:57

This reminds us that "foresightedness" refers to when a person can look ahead and

01:01

predict something before it happens.

01:03

It's not a fortuneteller thing, really. Having foresight is all about analyzing what's

01:08

going on around you to predict possible outcomes.

01:11

In any case, we know that "foresightedness" is the opposite of "shortsightedness."

01:16

Since the magic conjunction "and" told us that "jolly" had to jibe with "shortsightedness,"

01:20

we know (A) is incorrect. "Creativity" has a positive connotation,

01:25

so we can eliminate it pretty easily.

01:30

It wouldn't make sense for this particular author to compliment these censor-happy ladies,

01:33

with whom he or she obviously disagrees... especially when in the author's view they

01:38

were trying to censor creativity. "Prudence" reminds us of the word "prude,"

01:45

which describes somebody who's way too concerned with everything being proper and following

01:51

every rule to the letter.

01:53

Though the shortened form of the word has a negative connotation, having "prudence"

01:57

is generally considered a good thing, because it refers to careful planning and solid judgment.

02:03

So, once again, we can eliminate a word because its connotation is just too positive.

02:08

"Fishiness" does have a negative connotation like the one we're looking for. It can either

02:12

refer to something that actually smells like a fish...

02:15

...or to a person who's cold emotionally...

02:17

...or to a person or situation that's suspicious in some way.

02:21

None of these definitions seem to be exactly what the author is shooting for here, so we'll

02:25

go ahead and cross (B) off of the list. "Folly" sounds like the vocabulary love

02:29

child of "jolly" and "fool," which tips us off that "foolishness" is a good fit.

02:35

We've got the negative connotation we want, and it totally jibes with "shortsightedness."

02:39

So we know that the author is basically calling people who try to change pop music "silly."

02:44

Although... maybe not this silly.

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