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Interpreting words and phrases in context Videos 27 videos

What Does the Author Mean by "Front" in this Context?
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Thoreau uses "front" to mean "face". He wants to face The Facts of Life without shying away from our natural tendencies, roots, and the simply way...

SAT Reading: Using Context to Define a Word
12 Views

What does "frittered away" mean in this context? Wasted. Wasted by the way. Thoreau claims we fritter away our lives praying to modern complex dist...

SAT Reading 1.1 Short Passages
263 Views

SAT Reading: Short Passages Drill 1, Problem 1

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SAT Reading 1.5 Long Passages 204 Views


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Description:

SAT Reading Long Passages Drill 1, Problem 5

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Another shmoop du jour for you... Need to take another look at the passage?

00:07

No worries; just hit pause and giver 'er a skim...

00:37

In line 47, "despondency" most nearly means...what?

00:41

Here are the potential answers...

00:48

From the context of the passage... not to mention the magic conjunction "and"...

00:53

...we know that "despondency" relates to suicide somehow.

00:56

Sounds like this one is bound to be an upper... The root word "anonymous" in "anonymity"

01:02

reminds us that the word relates to being unknown.

01:06

The passage makes it clear that the famous Kurt Cobain had the opposite problem, so (E)

01:10

is off our list.

01:12

"Friendliness" is nice and all...

01:14

But it doesn't really equate with suicide, therefore (D) is wrong as well.

01:19

Sometimes peoples considering suicide can be really quiet, and sometimes they can be

01:23

really intense... But (C), "hopelessness," tends be universally

01:27

tied with suicidal thoughts, making it the best answer.

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