SAT OwlQuestion bank / Words in Context
Although the physicist's theory was initially greeted with skepticism, later experiments have done much to ______ it. Each new measurement has fallen within the range her equations predicted, leaving critics with fewer and fewer grounds for doubt.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
vindicate
undermine
obscure
anticipate
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The experiments keep matching the theory's predictions and remove grounds for doubt, so they show the theory to be correct after early skepticism. "Vindicate" means to prove right in the face of doubt.
Choice D, "anticipate," sounds scientific, but experiments performed after a theory cannot anticipate it; they confirm it.
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