Today’s image provides a striking visual representation of a recent vocabulary in context question. The passage marked the first appearance of wasps and AFFIXING on the Digital SAT. Let’s take a close look!
As an avid gardener I always welcome bumblebees. The tireless pollinators are a vital presence as they visit our flowers. But I’m usually not pleased to see wasps. They have painful stingers!
But wait! Unlike bumblebees, wasps have little to no hair. As a result, granular pieces of pollen do not stick to their legs. Even so, wasps are effective pollinators of fig plants. These plants are capable of AFFIXING or attaching mases of pollen to a hairless part of a wasp’s body. Who knew!
The question also marked the first appearance of SUBJECTING on a vocabulary in context question. Confused by the unusual passage, some of my students chose SUBJECTING as the correct answer. Wrong! SUBJECTING means to force someone or something to experience something that is typically unpleasant. The key phrase “stick to” clearly supports AFFIXING as the correct answer.
AFFIXING – attaching, fastening, or adding one thing to another
SUBJECTING – forcing someone or something to experience something that is typically unpleasant
APUSH BONUS EXAMPLE:
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The landmark document declared that all persons held as slaves within designated rebellious states “are and henceforth shall be free.” Two legal steps were required for the proclamation to carry official authority as a presidential decree. First, President Lincoln signed his name to the document. And second, Secretary of State William H. Seward AFFIXED the Great Seal of the United States to the lower-left corner of the historic parchment.