2012-04-24 09:00:03

Even though the editor was expecting the novelist's new manuscript to be quite long, she was overwhelmed by the ______ length of the text she ultimately received.

(A) infinitesimal
(B) tautological
(C) prodigious
(D) bombastic
(E) preposterous

The correct answer is C

Explanation: To predict the missing word, look for keywords in the sentence. Here, the keywords are "quite long," which the prompt uses to describe the "manuscript." The missing word likewise describes the "length of the text," and the prompt explains that "even though" the editor expected a long manuscript, "she was overwhelmed" by its length, which means the missing word must mean "extremely long." Because "prodigious" means "extraordinary in size, length, or extent," choice C is correct.

None of the other answer choices work either:

Infinitesimal: extremely small (this is the opposite of a correct answer)

Tautological: redundant or repetitive (this does not work because the prompt only implies the manuscript was long, not that it was repetitive)

Bombastic: pompous, pretentious, or inflated in speech without adding great insight (the prompt does not imply that the manuscript sounded pompous without actually being intelligent)

Preposterous: contrary to reason or common sense (this does not work because it would imply the text was too long, though the prompt only means to imply that it was very long, without putting a judgment on the length of the manuscript)