16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardWord meaning from context

Craft and Structure practice question

Though the author's early novels were ____ — dense with allusion and built on shifting timelines — her later work became almost austere in its simplicity.

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

  1. A. intricateCorrect
  2. B. spare
  3. C. accessible
  4. D. conventional

Answer: A. intricate

The dashes define the blank ('dense with allusion', 'shifting timelines') and 'though' contrasts it with later 'simplicity'. Complex, elaborately constructed work is 'intricate'.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. spare
'Spare' means plain and minimal — that describes the LATER work, which the sentence contrasts with the early novels.
C. accessible
'Accessible' means easy to approach. Dense allusion and shifting timelines make a book harder, not easier.
D. conventional
'Conventional' means ordinary in form. Shifting timelines are an unconventional structure.

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