2026 MAY SAT Words in Context Final Review > 학원,튜터링 보스톤코리아

STARPREP® SAT Reading & Writing

SAT Words in Context

Complete Vocabulary Question Review

This mobile-optimized study sheet organizes major SAT Reading & Writing Words in Context questions by target word, answer, meaning, and context clue. The goal is to help students understand vocabulary through sentence logic rather than memorizing isolated definitions.

Study Focus

How to Solve Words in Context

In SAT Words in Context questions, the correct answer is not always the most common dictionary definition. The correct answer is the meaning that best fits the sentence logic, contrast, cause-and-effect structure, or example given in the passage.

Master Vocabulary

Core Word List

surveyed — examined carefully
apparent — clear or obvious
salvage — recover or save
breathes — imparts or conveys
transcends — goes beyond
detected — identified or found
accepted — followed
attributed to — explained by
complementing — supplementing
evinces — shows or displays
analogous — similar or comparable
augment — increase
transience — impermanence
exploits — uses strategically
leaves — writes or places
convened — gathered
most advanced — farthest
preserved — kept safe
carves — inscribes
revealed — showed
function — work or operate
employed — used
impact — effect or influence

Words in Context Questions

Question · Answer · Meaning · Context Clue

1. surveyed

Question: As used in the text, what does the word “surveyed” most nearly mean?

Tom has been told to paint a long fence. He appeared with a bucket of whitewash and a brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him.

A. Transformed
B. Organized
C. Examined
D. Guaranteed

Answer: C. Examined
Meaning: looked over carefully
Context Clue: Tom looks at the fence and realizes how much work it will require.

2. apparent

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The influence of William Shakespeare’s writings is clear in many later literary works and is similarly ___________ in works in other media, including fine art and popular music.

A. subtle
B. apparent
C. unusual
D. excessive

Answer: B. apparent
Meaning: clear or obvious
Context Clue: The sentence already says the influence is “clear.”

3. salvage

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The Apollo Moon landings produced large amounts of data, much of which was stored on technologies that are now obsolete. A data-transfer project is working to ___________ these data so that researchers can use the information.

A. salvage
B. improve
C. amend
D. simplify

Answer: A. salvage
Meaning: recover or save
Context Clue: The data are stored on obsolete technology and need to be recovered.

4. breathes

Question: As used in the text, what does the word “breathes” most nearly mean?

In the poem, the speaker says that her husband’s name “breathes bravery and life / And courage to the tribe.”

A. Rejects
B. Imparts
C. Absorbs
D. Acquiesces

Answer: B. Imparts
Meaning: gives or conveys
Context Clue: The name symbolically gives bravery and courage.

5. transcends

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Mastering ‘ajami, a Syrian art of creating intricately painted wood panels, demands a skill set that ___________ innate talent: crafting the panels requires not just drawing ability but also knowledge of techniques, materials, and design traditions.

A. restrains
B. replicates
C. characterizes
D. transcends

Answer: D. transcends
Meaning: goes beyond
Context Clue: The craft requires more than natural talent.

6. detected

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Researchers trained a computer program to identify sidewalks in aerial images. When used on images of another city, the program accurately ___________ sidewalks.

A. approved
B. detected
C. mistook
D. neglected

Answer: B. detected
Meaning: identified or found
Context Clue: The program found sidewalks in images.

7. accepted

Question: As used in the text, what does the word “accepted” most nearly mean?

A signpost points people toward the village, but the narrator says people never “accepted” the direction because they never came there.

A. Followed
B. Permitted
C. Approved
D. Changed

Answer: A. Followed
Meaning: followed
Context Clue: They did not go in the direction indicated by the sign.

8. attributed to

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Zygomorphic flowers remain open longer than actinomorphic flowers. Researchers claim that this extended period could be ___________ the relatively small pool of potential pollinators available to zygomorphic flowers.

A. attributed to
B. converted by
C. analogous to
D. magnified by

Answer: A. attributed to
Meaning: explained by or caused by
Context Clue: The sentence explains why the flowers remain open longer.

9. complementing

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Preserved plant specimens show that rising temperatures correlate with earlier leaf production, but such specimens represent only brief moments in plant development. ___________ this research with studies involving live plants would enable a fuller understanding.

A. Foregrounding
B. Categorizing
C. Anticipating
D. Complementing

Answer: D. Complementing
Meaning: supplementing or adding to
Context Clue: Live-plant studies would add useful information to specimen research.

10. evinces

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Although Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid is atypical of his genre paintings because it has a plain background, the painting nonetheless ___________ many signature traits of Vermeer’s art.

A. evinces
B. repudiates
C. predates
D. eschews

Answer: A. evinces
Meaning: shows or displays
Context Clue: Even though the painting is unusual, it still shows Vermeer’s traits.

11. analogous

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Blue holes and cenotes differ in size, water composition, and location, so they are not usually viewed as being ___________, but both are water-filled sinkholes produced by natural rock dissolution and collapse.

A. distinct
B. analogous
C. incongruous
D. explicable

Answer: B. analogous
Meaning: similar or comparable
Context Clue: The sentence contrasts their differences with their shared feature.

12. augment

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Hydropower, wind power, and solar power already make up a large share of Portugal’s electricity production. Because of its renewable resources, Portugal may be able to ___________ the proportion of electricity it produces from renewable sources.

A. induce
B. exhaust
C. alleviate
D. augment

Answer: D. augment
Meaning: increase or expand
Context Clue: Portugal may increase its renewable-energy share.

13. transience

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

In a costume exhibit, an emphasis on the ___________ of fashion was conveyed by the theme of perpetual renewal and by re-creations of ephemeral elements such as fragrance.

A. transience
B. definitiveness
C. superficiality
D. partiality

Answer: A. transience
Meaning: impermanence or temporary nature
Context Clue: “perpetual renewal” and “ephemeral” both suggest temporary change.

14. exploits

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

As a defense mechanism, the monarch butterfly ___________ toxic compounds from milkweed plants. After ingesting milkweed, the monarch stores toxic cardenolides in its tissues, making itself unpleasant to predators.

A. neutralizes
B. exploits
C. impedes
D. secretes

Answer: B. exploits
Meaning: uses strategically
Context Clue: The butterfly uses the toxins for defense.

Additional Words

Extra Words in Context Practice

15. leaves

Question: As used in the text, what does the word “leaves” most nearly mean?

In art class, Gogol carves his name into clay cups and bowls, pastes pasta to cardboard, and leaves his signature in fat brush strokes below paintings.

A. Lifts
B. Allows
C. Switches
D. Writes

Answer: D. Writes
Meaning: writes or places
Context Clue: “leaves his signature” means he writes or places his signature.

16. convened

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Several scholars of children’s literature recently ___________ to discuss the work of a well-known illustrator. Once together, they talked about the illustrator’s style, influences, and themes.

A. cited
B. stipulated
C. convened
D. ascribed

Answer: C. convened
Meaning: gathered or assembled
Context Clue: The phrase “Once together” indicates that the scholars gathered.

17. most advanced

Question: As used in the text, what does the phrase “most advanced” most nearly mean?

The farmer passed with his eyes fixed on the most advanced point along the road.

A. Most developed
B. Brightest
C. Most novel
D. Farthest

Answer: D. Farthest
Meaning: farthest ahead
Context Clue: It refers to the farthest point along the road, not the most modern point.

18. preserved

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Several draft versions of a novel have been ___________, and translators consulted those drafts when preparing a definitive English edition.

A. assigned
B. debunked
C. preserved
D. hypothesized

Answer: C. preserved
Meaning: kept safe or maintained
Context Clue: Translators could consult the drafts because they still existed.

19. carves

Question: As used in the text, what does the word “carves” most nearly mean?

In art class, Gogol carves his name with paper clips into the bottoms of clay cups and bowls.

A. Signs
B. Boosts
C. Chases
D. Switches

Answer: A. Signs
Meaning: inscribes or marks by cutting
Context Clue: Gogol is marking his name into clay.

20. revealed

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Fossils of ancient arthropods preserved in volcanic ash have ___________ similarities between ancient arthropods and modern ones. Detailed 3D images allowed scientists to see features similar to those in species living today.

A. questioned
B. repaired
C. protected
D. revealed

Answer: D. revealed
Meaning: showed or disclosed
Context Clue: The 3D images allowed scientists to see similarities.

21. function

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Smart watches and fitness trackers often rely on batteries that cannot easily be replaced. Because these gadgets cannot ___________ without working batteries, they are usually thrown away once the batteries stop working.

A. expand
B. separate
C. function
D. decide

Answer: C. function
Meaning: work or operate
Context Clue: The devices cannot work without batteries.

22. employed

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A traditional Japanese painter used a centuries-old Japanese approach, applying ink and color to silk. By contrast, another painter ___________ European methods, using oil on canvas to produce Western-style paintings.

A. imagined
B. punished
C. employed
D. overheard

Answer: C. employed
Meaning: used
Context Clue: The painter used European methods.

23. impact

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

One reasonable way to evaluate the ___________ of a scholar’s research is to track how often other scholars refer to that research. A frequently cited researcher’s work has had a significant effect on the field.

A. impact
B. expense
C. complexity
D. unity

Answer: A. impact
Meaning: effect or influence
Context Clue: Citation frequency is used to measure how much influence the research has had.

Answer Key

Complete Answer Key

1. C · surveyed = examined
2. B · apparent = clear / obvious
3. A · salvage = recover / save
4. B · breathes = imparts
5. D · transcends = goes beyond
6. B · detected = identified / found
7. A · accepted = followed
8. A · attributed to = explained by
9. D · complementing = supplementing
10. A · evinces = shows / displays
11. B · analogous = similar / comparable
12. D · augment = increase
13. A · transience = impermanence
14. B · exploits = uses strategically
15. D · leaves = writes
16. C · convened = gathered
17. D · most advanced = farthest
18. C · preserved = kept safe
19. A · carves = signs / inscribes
20. D · revealed = showed
21. C · function = work / operate
22. C · employed = used
23. A · impact = effect / influence

Trap Answers

Common Wrong Answer Traps

subtle = not obvious
Wrong when the context says “clear” or “apparent.”

amend = revise or correct
Wrong when data are being recovered, not edited.

replicates = copies
Wrong when the skill goes beyond talent.

repudiates = rejects
Wrong when the painting shows the artist’s traits.

distinct = different
Wrong when the blank requires similarity.

alleviate = relieve or reduce
Wrong when the sentence needs “increase.”

neutralizes = makes harmless
Wrong when the butterfly uses the toxin.

stipulated = specified as a condition
Wrong when scholars simply gathered.

debunked = proved false
Wrong when drafts were kept or preserved.

expense = cost
Wrong when the passage measures influence.

STARPREP® SAT Reading & Writing

Words in Context questions reward students who read for logic, not just vocabulary memorization.

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