Close analysis of the painting Girl with a Flute, long attributed to the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, has revealed subtle deviations from the artist’s signature techniques. These variations suggest that the work may be that of a student under Vermeer’s tutelage—potentially____our understanding of Vermeer as a solitary artist. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A) negating 

B) prefiguring

C) entrenching

D) substantiating

The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John wants to travel far beyond the village where he lives near his mother, Matty. [John] had on several occasions attempted to reconcile his mother to the notion, but found it a difficult task. Matty always took refuge in self-pity and tears. Her son’s desires were incomprehensible to her, that was all.

As used in the text, what does the phrase “reconcile his mother to” most nearly mean?

A) Get his mother to accept

B) Get his mother to apologize for

C) Get his mother to match

D) Get his mother to reunite with

It is by no means____to recognize the influence of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch on Ali Banisadr’s paintings; indeed, Banisadr himself cites Bosch as an inspiration. However, some scholars have suggested that the ancient Mesopotamian poem Epic of Gilgamesh may have had a far greater impact on Banisadr’s work.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) substantial

B) satisfying

C) unimportant

D) appropriate

Within baleen whale species, some individuals develop an accessory spleen—a seemingly functionless formation of splenetic tissue outside the normal spleen. Given the formation’s greater prevalence among whales known to make deeper dives, some researchers hypothesize that its role isn’t____; rather, the accessory spleen may actively support diving mechanisms.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) replicable

B) predetermined

C) operative

D) latent

As an undergraduate researcher in anthropology, Jennifer C. Chen contributed to a groundbreaking study challenging the accepted view that among prehistoric peoples, female participation in hunting was . The research team’s review of data from late Pleistocene and early Holocene burials in the Americas revealed that, in fact, as many as half of the hunters in those populations were female.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) inevitable

B) satisfactory

C) negligible

D) commonplace