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Difficulty: MediumContext Clues for Synonyms

During the severe winter storm, highway crews spread salt and gravel across the roadways to mitigate hazardous travel conditions.

In this sentence, what does the word "mitigate" most nearly mean?

  1. A
    intensify
  2. lessenAnswer
  3. C
    eliminate
  4. D
    prosecute

Answer

lessen
In the provided sentence, road maintenance crews apply salt and gravel to decrease the danger of winter driving. Therefore, the word 'mitigate' most nearly means 'lessen'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the surrounding context clues and the action performed in the sentence.
Highway crews are spreading salt and gravel on roads during a storm to deal with hazardous driving conditions.
Understanding why road crews spread salt and gravel clarifies the intent to reduce risk and make the roadway safer.
2
Determine the precise synonym that matches the contextual goal.
The word 'mitigate' means to make something less severe, painful, or harmful, which corresponds directly to 'lessen'.
Replacing 'mitigate' with 'lessen' preserves the logical flow and intended meaning of the sentence.

Key Concept

Using cause-and-effect contextual clues in a sentence to determine word meaning and identify synonyms.
Estimated Time:35s
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Topics

Context Clues for Synonyms

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