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Difficulty: MediumInferring Vocabulary Meaning from Context

Before applying thermal adhesive to ceramic heat tiles, aerospace technicians must deliberately score the bonding surface. Rather than leaving the material polished and smooth, creating shallow, intentional scratches across the substrate dramatically increases its effective surface area. These microscopic grooves provide mechanical grip for the adhesive compound, preventing the tiles from detaching during high-vibration atmospheric flight. If the surface remains unmarred, the adhesive cannot form an interlocking bond, risking catastrophic failure.

As used in the passage, the word "score" most nearly means which of the following?

  1. A
    record points or evaluate performance
  2. make shallow grooves or scratches onAnswer
  3. C
    polish until smooth and level
  4. D
    cut completely through into separate pieces

Answer

The word "score" in this context means to make shallow grooves or scratches on a surface.
In this technical context, "score" means to make shallow grooves or scratches on a surface. The text explicitly defines the action in the following sentence as "creating shallow, intentional scratches across the substrate" to produce "microscopic grooves" that allow the adhesive to grip.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate the target word and examine the immediate sentence context.
The target word "score" is used as an action performed on the ceramic bonding surface before applying adhesive.
Determining the word's grammatical role and context provides the initial framework for its meaning.
2
Identify direct context clues and contrasting details in the surrounding text.
The author contrasts scoring with "leaving the material polished and smooth" and defines the action as "creating shallow, intentional scratches" and "microscopic grooves."
Contextual clues and contrasting descriptions clarify the author's intended definition.
3
Select the option that reflects the physical action described by the clues.
The meaning of creating shallow incisions or scratches corresponds to making shallow grooves or scratches on the surface.
Eliminating common non-contextual definitions and antonym traps leaves the supported meaning.

Key Concept

Inferring the specific contextual meaning of a polysemous technical term using contrast and explanatory context clues.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Inferring Vocabulary Meaning from Context

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