2012-02-07 09:00:50

On the television talk show, the best-selling author revealed that he was working on a new book, but he said the book was still ______ and that he preferred to not talk about his stories before they were finished.

(A) ambivalent           (B) callow            (C) mature

(D) inchoate            (E) innate



Choice D is correct.

Explanation: To find the correct answer, use key words in the sentence. None of the information before the word “but” makes a difference to the sentence’s meaning, so ignore it. Instead, focus on what the author “said” about the “book,” since the missing word describes what he said about it. The rest of the sentence says “he preferred to not talk about his stories before they were finished.” This means the missing word must mean unfinished or not yet fully developed, making choice D correct, since inchoate means not yet fully formed or developed.

None of the other choices work, either:

Ambivalent: being unable to choose between two options or courses (this has nothing to do with the prompt)

Callow: immature or inexperienced (a “book” cannot logically be immature or inexperienced)

Mature: complete in development (this is the opposite of a proper answer)

Innate: inherent or inborn (this has nothing to do with the prompt