Today's question was missed by 20%, so you have to be checking them to make sure you keep your points.The strategy for this style of question--as opposed to mathematical questions with calculations--is to eliminate every incorrect answer after you choose the correct answer.
STEP ONE: Read the question noticing every clue, realizing that the writer of the question is including clues to lead you to choose a best answer that is strongly supported by the clear definitions of the words. The first word is 'confident.' For the first blank, I am seeking a word that indicates that the candidate is expecting to win, despite some surge of popular opinion in favor of an opponent. Therefore, for the second blank, I am not expecting the word to be a tragic or defeatist word. This candidate is 'confident.'
The only two possible first words in the pairs to fit the connotation needed in the first blank are 'strengthen' and 'prevail'--so A,D,and E are eliminated. I try:
Confident that her own political platform would prevail at election time, the mayor considered her opponent's sudden popularity less a threat than a distraction.
(I'm thinking: Yes, that fits. I was thinking that 'distraction' would have been something like 'aberration' but let's see if that other possibility is something that fits better for some reason.)
Confident that her own political platform would strengthen at election time, the mayor considered her opponent's sudden popularity less a threat than a calamity. Nope, that is NOT it. She would not be thinking the opponent's sudden popularity is a calamity (awful, terrible happening) if she is so confident.
So it IS C. I'm right. But I have to check it by eliminating everything. I just have to move in a quick, orderly, planned, methodical way. This is how I get the big score on this part of the test!
Tomorrow, we will talk about the difference in how to work on the math questions. Come back, please.
