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SAT Reading 3.6 Long Passages 171 Views


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Description:

SAT Reading: Long Passages Drill 3, Problem 6

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

This question has come down with an acute case of Shmoopitis.

00:12

It's baaa-aaack...

00:14

If you aren't completely sick of this thing by now...

00:19

Hit pause anyway and read it.

00:31

In line 45, "prolific" most nearly means... what?

00:38

And here are the potential answers...

00:45

Context? We have lots of it. In the sentence

00:47

before "prolific" appears, we learn that Muir was writing for newspapers and becoming popular.

00:53

You know like a cheerleader...or something like that in those days.

00:56

Then the passage describes Muir as a "prolific writer" who started focusing on preservation

01:01

efforts.

01:03

Armed with this context we're now ready to embark on our quest to discover the meaning

01:07

of the word "prolific."

01:09

The prefix "intro" means "inward," which reminds us that the word "introvert"

01:15

refers to someone who's turned inward, or is kind of shy.

01:19

Knowing this, we ask ourselves: would it make sense to describe Muir as being shy while

01:23

he's skyrocketing in popularity?

01:26

Well, it wouldn't be the first time that an introverted writer got mega-famous...we're

01:32

looking at you J.D. Salinger...

01:36

But the word just doesn't fit here. The context surrounding the word "prolific"

01:41

is positive, so it would seem kind of weird to drop the idea that Muir was a forgetful dude.

01:46

Therefore we can cross out (B).

01:48

One thing's for sure: this guy was not underappreciated...

01:51

If the context of this passage is to be believed--which it kind of has to be--then this guy was the

01:56

toast of the town. Sure, being witty usually helps a guy become

02:02

popular, but there's nothing in the context that tells us that Muir was a comedian.

02:07

Get off the stage, choice (E)! We've now whittled our choices down to (D).

02:13

This definition of "prolific" makes a lot of sense given the context. Being a "highly

02:18

productive" writer can certainly be a big help in skyrocketing you to fame.

02:22

Of course, sometimes it's enough to write one super popular novel, a few short stories

02:26

and novellas, and then hide out in the woods for the rest of your life.

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