Word Choice - ACT Reading

1. As it is used in line 2, the word "plastic" most nearly means:
   Answer: capable of being shaped or changed The passage explicitly clarifies the intended sense, stating the word did not mean "that the metal looked artificial but that it seemed capable of further change," directly ruling out choice C and confirming that "plastic" here describes forms that appear malleable, still "caught mid-transformation." This matches "capable of being shaped or changed." Choice A confuses the figurative art-critical sense with the literal synthetic-material sense. Choice D applies the word to personality or mood, which the passage never addresses; the discussion is entirely about physical form.
2. As it is used in line 2, the word "host" most nearly means:
   Answer: an organism that harbors and sustains a parasite The passage explains that the tapeworm "requires at least two" hosts, "an intermediate host in which its larvae mature and a definitive host in whose intestine the adult worm finally reproduces," clearly describing an organism that carries and sustains the parasite. Choice A confuses this with the unrelated idiom "a host of" meaning many. Choice B and D apply the social sense of hosting guests or events, entirely unrelated to the biological relationship described.
3. As it is used in line 2, the word "settled" most nearly means:
   Answer: became calmer and less turbulent The passage explicitly states that "nothing was resolved," ruling out choice A, yet describes the household growing "quieter, steadier, easier to move through" — the tension calmed without being fixed, matching choice B. Choice C applies a sense of moving to a new home, unrelated to the household's mood. Choice D takes the sediment simile literally rather than recognizing it illustrates the calming, not a physical sinking.
4. As it is used in line 3, the word "composed" most nearly means:
   Answer: calm and controlled in outward appearance The sentence contrasts the mother's trembling hands with a face that "was composed, the way it always was when trouble arrived," and the narrator later reveals that this steadiness was something she had to work to maintain, having "arranged her features into something the rest of us could safely lean against." Here "composed" describes an outwardly calm, controlled demeanor masking inner distress, matching choice B. Choice A reflects the meaning of composing a song or essay, unrelated to facial expression. Choice C describes something built of separate components (as in "composed of"), which does not fit a face showing calm. Choice D borrows the idea of arranging elements in order, which echoes the later phrase about arranged features but describes a physical sequencing rather than the emotional self-control the word conveys in line 3.
5. As it is used in line 8, the word "arrested" most nearly means:
   Answer: brought to a sudden, complete stop The sentence shows the narrator kneeling motionless "until the light went gold and then gray" — the sight halted her actions entirely, so "arrested" means brought to a sudden stop. Choice A applies the criminal-justice sense, which doesn't fit a garden scene. Choice C borrows the biological sense ("arrested development") but nothing in the passage concerns growth being stalled. Choice D applies a legal/financial sense that has no basis here.
6. As it is used in line 1, the word "credit" most nearly means:
   Answer: to acknowledge as responsible for an achievement The sentence continues, "credit the enslaved laborers...with the technical ingenuity the project actually required," showing historians are attributing responsibility for an achievement to a specific group, matching "to acknowledge as responsible for an achievement." Choice A applies the financial-loan sense, irrelevant here. Choice C is close because "credit" can mean to believe a claim, but the passage is about attributing an accomplishment to people, not judging the truth of a statement. Choice D is the bookkeeping sense of adding to an account, unrelated to historical attribution.
7. As it is used in line 2, the word "volatile" most nearly means:
   Answer: evaporating readily at ordinary temperatures The passage describes compounds that were "highly volatile, vanishing from the sample within hours" and later clarifies this as "a tendency to evaporate so quickly." This describes a physical property of easy evaporation, matching choice C. Choice A applies volatility to explosiveness, which the passage never mentions. Choice B applies the word to emotion, a figurative sense irrelevant to rock samples. Choice D applies the word to financial markets, a completely different domain than the geological one described.
8. The words "shuffled" and "grunted" in "Mara shuffled into the kitchen, dropped her bag, and grunted at her brother" suggest Mara is:
   Answer: tired and in a sour mood "Shuffled" means walking slowly and heavily, and "grunted" is a curt, unfriendly sound, so Mara seems tired and grumpy. Rushing doesn't fit, because shuffling is slow, not hurried.
9. As it is used in line 3, the word "culture" most nearly means:
   Answer: a population of microorganisms grown under controlled conditions The passage describes technicians who "grew a culture from each one, allowing any bacteria present to multiply on a nutrient medium until colonies became visible," a direct description of the microbiological meaning of "culture," matching choice B. Choice A applies the anthropological sense of a society's customs, unrelated to lab samples. Choice C refers to artistic refinement, irrelevant to bacteria. Choice D refers to agricultural cultivation of soil, a different domain from growing microorganisms in a lab.
10. In "Jonah trudged up the porch steps, his backpack sagging like a wet sack," the word "trudged" suggests that Jonah is:
    Answer: tired and weighed down 'Trudged' means walking slowly and heavily, and the sagging backpack adds to that sense of weariness. The idea that Jonah is hurrying is tempting because he is moving toward the house, but 'trudged' describes slow, labored steps.
11. "Even after twelve washings, the blue dye held fast in the cotton." As it is used here, "fast" most nearly means:
    Answer: firmly in place Dye that 'held fast' through many washings stayed firmly fixed in the fabric. 'At great speed' is tempting because it is the everyday meaning, but nothing in the sentence involves motion or speed.
12. As it is used in line 1, the word "register" most nearly means:
    Answer: a level of formality or style in language The passage describes dialogue moving "from the clipped, technical vocabulary of the courtroom into the loose, associative rhythms" of private thought, and later refers to shifting "between formal and intimate speech," which describes stylistic level, matching "a level of formality or style in language." Choice A is the record-keeping sense, unrelated to style. Choice B is the cash-register sense, entirely irrelevant. Choice D applies a musical meaning of register (pitch range), which does not fit a discussion of a novelist's prose style.
13. As it is used in line 2, the phrase "political capital" most nearly means:
    Answer: accumulated goodwill and influence available to be spent The passage immediately defines the phrase as "the accumulated trust and obligation that colleagues extend to a legislator," and later describes the senator "spending" and "holding in reserve" this resource like a bank of favors, matching "accumulated goodwill and influence available to be spent." Choice A is the capital-city meaning, unrelated to favors. Choice B refers to campaign fundraising, a different kind of political resource not described. Choice D is the typographical meaning of "capital," wholly unrelated to the context.
14. As it is used in line 2, the word "labored" most nearly means:
    Answer: strained and unnatural in delivery The passage describes the captain "dragging each reason out from under a great weight" and circling back to repeated points — the explanation itself is forced and strained, not fluent, which matches choice C. Choice A applies "labored" to physical exertion, which is irrelevant to speech. Choice B invents a claim about research that the passage never makes. Choice D misreads "labored" as praise for reliability, when the passage frames it as a sign nobody believed him.
15. As it is used in line 2, the word "hedge" most nearly means:
    Answer: avoid giving a direct or committed answer The mayor answers with vague praise of "productive conversations" rather than a straight yes or no, and reporters and opponents alike describe her as evasive — she avoids commitment, matching choice B. Choice A is the literal landscaping sense, unrelated to speech. Choice C is the financial sense of "hedge," which has no place in this political scene. Choice D reverses the meaning: rather than arguing forcefully, she deliberately avoids taking a firm position.
16. As it is used in line 3, the word "currency" most nearly means:
    Answer: general acceptance or prevalence The passage describes an idea that "had begun to lose currency among policymakers, even as it retained a stubborn hold on public discourse," meaning the idea was losing widespread acceptance among one group while remaining popular with another. This fits "general acceptance or prevalence." Choice A is the literal monetary meaning, irrelevant to an abstract notion. Choice C refers to currency exchange, a financial concept not discussed. Choice D treats "currency" as a flow or current, which is not how the word functions describing an idea's popularity.
17. As it is used in line 4, the word "arrested" most nearly means:
    Answer: halted or checked The narrator explains that the silence "had arrested something in the house that had been running too fast for years," describing how the family's frantic pace of arguments and debts was stopped or checked, not merely eliminated forever. This matches "halted or checked." Choice A imports the criminal-justice meaning, which is irrelevant here. Choice C (arresting one's attention) is a different figurative sense not supported by the passage. Choice D suggests permanent stunting of development, but the passage describes a pause—the mechanism is later "rewound," implying the pace could resume, so nothing was permanently stunted.
18. "Though exhausted, the new captain meant to discharge every duty the ship's owners had assigned." As used here, "discharge" most nearly means:
    Answer: fulfill To discharge a duty is to carry it out, so 'fulfill' fits a captain determined to complete assigned tasks. 'Unload' is tempting because of the ship setting, but the object is duties, not cargo.
19. In "Her reasoning was sound, even if her delivery made the audience fidget," the word "sound" most nearly means:
    Answer: logically valid When 'sound' describes reasoning, it means well-founded or valid. The contrast with her weak delivery supports this. 'Loud and clear' is tempting because it links to the familiar meaning of sound as noise, but that meaning describes speech, not the quality of an argument.
20. In "Grandpa's garden sprawled past the fence, tomatoes tumbling onto the sidewalk," the word "sprawled" suggests the garden is:
    Answer: large and overgrown 'Sprawled' means spreading out loosely, and the tomatoes tumbling past the fence show a large, overgrown garden. 'Neat and carefully trimmed' may tempt readers who picture a cared-for garden, but sprawling growth is untidy by definition.

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