The August 22, 2026 SAT contained a vocabulary in context question that forced students to choose between ANOMALOUS and TENTATIVE. Let’s begin with the definitions of these two words: ANOMALOUS describes anything that deviates, from what is standard, normal, or expected. TENTATIVE describes anything that is not certain, final, or fixed.
The passage began by explaining that unnamed researchers are using mitochondrial sequences to validate the boundaries of a number of bird species in Iran. But “a particular date point was ________.” The data point could be either ANOMALOUS or TENTATIVE. The answer depends upon the descriptions following the blank!
The passage continues to explain that the researchers sought corroboration or confirming evidence from nuclear DNA markers. The suspense is killing me! The passage finally concludes by informing test takers that the researchers used morphological features to determine that the errant data point was – ta da – an “exception.” The key word exception clearly supports ANOMALOUS as the most logical and precise answer. Problem solved!!
ANOMALOUS – anything that deviates, from what is standard, normal, or expected; an exception
TENTATIVE – anything that is not certain, final, or fixed