What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you hear the word DISCOUNT? For most shoppers a DISCOUNT means a sale in which the price of a product or service will be reduced.
Needless to say, SAT test writers are not bargain hunters looking for a DISCOUNT in prices. Instead, they are keen students of commonly used words that have unexpected secondary meanings. For example, DISCOUNT can also mean to disregard or minimize something as when you DISCOUNT a rumor.
Now let’s apply this secondary definition of DISCOUNT to a recent vocabulary in context question The passage began by explaining that literary scholars often group authors into distinct literary movements such as Transcendentalism and the Harlem Renaissance. This tendency encourages historians to DISCOUNT or minimize the subtle characteristics in an author’s style. The next sentence supports DISCOUNT as the target answer by explaining that scholars sometimes “overlook nuances” in an individual author’s work. The key phrase “overlook nuances” restates the meaning of DISCOUNT subtleties.
Both DENOUNCE and SCRUTINIZE were incorrect answers. DENOUNCE means to publicly condemn someone or something. Scholars are not condemning an author’s style; they are simply failing to note the distinctive nuances in his or her writings. SCRUTINIZE means to closely examine something. If scholars SCRUTINIZE an author’s writings, they would notice and not overlook its distinctive nuances.
DISCOUNT – to disregard or minimize
DENOUNCE – to condemn something or someone
SCRUTINIZE – to carefully examine someone or something
APUSH BONUS EXAMPLE
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated a treaty to buy Alaska from Russia for 47.2 million. Politicians, journalists, and the public routinely denounced the purchase as “Seward’s Folly.” They DISCOUNTED the distant land as a frozen, useless wasteland.