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Difficulty: MediumSecondary Meanings of Common Words

Although Dr. Aris initially garnered acclaim for her work on deep-sea bioluminescence, her peers were quick to discount her latest findings on hydrothermal vent communities. They argued that her sample sizes were far too small to support such sweeping ecological claims. Dr. Aris, however, maintained that the difficulty of retrieving specimens from such extreme depths justified her methodology. While her critics focused on the scarcity of data, a few forward-thinking oceanographers recognized that the underlying patterns she identified could eventually reshape our understanding of benthic ecosystems.

As it is used in the first sentence, the word *discount* most nearly means:

  1. A
    reduce
  2. dismissAnswer
  3. C
    misunderstand
  4. D
    validate

Answer

dismiss
The correct answer is the option meaning 'dismiss'. In the context of the passage, Dr. Aris's peers react to her work by pointing out that her sample sizes are too small to support her claims. This criticism indicates they are rejecting or disregarding her findings, which is the definition of 'discount' in this secondary sense.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate the target word 'discount' in the passage and evaluate its surrounding context.
The target word appears in the phrase: 'her peers were quick to discount her latest findings...'
This establishes the grammatical role and immediate placement of the word.
2
Identify clues in subsequent sentences that clarify the peers' attitude toward the findings.
The next sentence notes that the peers 'argued that her sample sizes were far too small to support such sweeping ecological claims.'
This reveals that the peers are reacting with skepticism and skepticism leads to rejecting or ignoring the claims.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the best match for rejecting or treating the claims as invalid.
The word 'dismiss' means to treat as unworthy of serious consideration, which aligns perfectly with the peers' actions.
Matching the contextual analysis to the options yields the correct secondary definition.

Key Concept

Secondary Meanings of Common Words
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Secondary Meanings of Common Words

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