Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day, 3rd Edition

4. Proliferate in this passage means
a. decrease, shrink.
b. underestimate, play down.
c. increase, spread at a rapid rate.
d. fail, fall short.
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D E F I N I N G V O C A B U L A R Y I N C O N T E X T
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3 5

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The correct answer, of course, is c, “increase,
spread at a rapid rate.” It can’t be a or d because these
are things associated with reduction, not growth. And
everyone knows that weeds in an untended garden will
grow fast and aggressively. And b is not an appropriate
answer because if you replace proliferate with underes-
timate or play down, it doesn’t really make sense. In
addition, you can tell that c is the right answer because
the rest of the passage provides other clues. It tells you
that reality TV shows are replacing other network pro-
grams, it tells you that they are popular, and it tells you
that they are earning millions of dollars in advertising
revenue. All these clues would indicate that reality TV
shows are spreading and growing in number, not
shrinking or declining. Hence, the meaning of prolif-
erate must be c, “increase, spread at a rapid rate.”

How Much Context Do You Need?
In the previous example, you would still be able to
understand the main message of the passage even if you
didn’t know—or couldn’t figure out—the meaning of
obscure and proliferate. In some cases, however, your
understanding of a passage depends on your under-
standing of a particular word or phrase. Can you
understand the following sentence, for example, with-
out knowing what adversely means?
Reality TV shows will adversely affect traditional
dramas and comedies.
What does adversely mean in this sentence? Is it
something good or bad? As good a detective as you may
be, there simply aren’t enough clues in this sentence to
tell you what this word means. But a passage with more
information will give you what you need to determine
meaning from context.
Reality TV shows will adversely affect traditional
dramas and comedies. As reality TV increases in pop-
ularity, network executives will begin canceling more
traditional dramas and comedies and replacing them
with the latest in reality TV.