Read the sentence, looking for clues
This is a difficult question with few direct clues. The most concrete starting
point is the detour roadsign "however" at the beginning of the second sentence,
which signals a contrast between the original "misapprehension" entertained by the
nobility and the "crediting" of some group of people with the work of empire
building. The "misapprehension" is made explicit in the second blank, so that blank
will be filled by a word that offers a contrast to "doing work." In order for the
first and second sentences to express conflicting ideas, they must discuss the same
group of people. Therefore, the first and third blanks should be synonyms or closely
related.
Predict the answers
Only general predictions are possible for this difficult question. The word in the
second blank should contrast with "doing work" somehow. The words in the first and
third blanks should be either synonyms or at least very closely related.
Select the best matches from among the
choices
Among the three sound-alike choices for the second blank, only (E)
indolent, or "habitually lazy, idle,"
contrasts with "doing work," so it is the correct answer. Neither (D) insolent, "insulting and arrogant" nor (F)
indigent, "impoverished," provides
the necessary contrast.
For the first and third blanks, the only possible pair of synonyms is (I)
plebeians and (C)
underclass, both of which mean
"commoners of low status," and are the other two correct answers. (A) esurient, meaning "greedy," (B) philanthropic, meaning "humanitarian," (G)
patricians, meaning "aristocrats,"
and (H) paeans, meaning "songs of
praise," do not yield a pair of synonyms and are thus all incorrect.
Confirm your answers by reading them into the
sentence
For much of the Early Middle Ages, there was, among the nobility, a misperception
of the underclass as indolent. However, this misapprehension began
to be corrected during the reign of Frederick Barbarossa, when the plebeians were widely credited with doing the
work of building Frederick's empire.
TAKEAWAY: If a specific prediction isn't possible, at least come up with a general
prediction or determine whether the word should be positive or negative. Then, be
flexible with the answer choices.
