16Hit1600
Craft and StructureEasy–MediumWord meaning from context

Craft and Structure practice question

The mayor's promise to lower taxes proved ____: two years into her term, they had risen twice.

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

  1. A. hollowCorrect
  2. B. prophetic
  3. C. sincere
  4. D. popular

Answer: A. hollow

The colon shows what happened: the opposite of the promise. A promise that turns out to mean nothing is 'hollow'.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. prophetic
'Prophetic' means accurately predicting the future. The promise predicted the opposite of what happened.
C. sincere
'Sincere' is about the mayor's intent, and the sentence judges the promise by its outcome, which contradicted it.
D. popular
Popularity has nothing to do with whether the promise was kept.

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