Spoiler alert! I can now report that the movie Disclosure Day has a very AMBIGUOUS or unclear ending. Steven Spielberg’s latest sci-fi blockbuster does definitively establish that we’ve made contact with alien life. After many exciting twists and turns, the film’s final scene takes place at the fictional Kansas City TV station KCXE. Weatherperson Margaret Fairchild is finally ready to make a world-changing announcement. But her full disclosure consists of just one very AMBIGUOUS word – “Listen!”
That’s it! What does “listen” mean? We don’t know. Maybe humanity would make the world a better place if we would listen to each other. Unfortunately, the screen goes blank and leaves us with only AMBIGUITY.
SAT test writers are familiar with AMBIGUOUS. They have frequently used it as a tempting wrong answer. But AMBIGUITY did appear as a correct answer on a very challenging October 2024 vocabulary in context question about gravitational waves. It turns out that highly sensitive instruments enabled astronomers to detect what appeared to be direct evidence of gravitational waves. But skeptics argued that the signals were too faint to provide IRREFUTABLE or indisputable evidence. However, a detailed statistical analysis SUBSTANTIATED or proved the initial finding thus ending the AMBIGUITY!!
AMBIGUOUS – something that is unclear and confusing because it can be interpreted in many ways
IRREFUTABLE – undeniable proof that cannot be disputed
SUBSTANTIATE – to provide evidence that proofs a claim