When I tried this without looking at the answers, this was my approach:
Though is a contrast (-)
Scientists: not different therefore Science: Different (block of 4)
" : " is a (+) supporting first and second idea. First idea states scientists are not different, so the second blank should be something like regular human beings (something describing a basic human being)
none of these words matched with the options in the answer choice - so where did I go wrong?
I find it hard to follow your approach, please complete the 7 steps for each blank:
For each blank:
- What exactly does the blank describe?
- Try and look at the idea in isolation
- If you’re struggling, fill it in with a word (using usage) and then reverse engineer to figure out what its saying
- Is the idea containing the blank being supported or contrasted? How can you tell?
- What should the connotation of the blank’s idea be? What about the blank itself?
- What should the blank’s idea be conveying → think about what its supporting or contrasting. What about the blank itself?:
- What could the RHS and LHS of the blank’s idea be suggesting about what the blank describes
- What should the blank’s idea be supporting/contrasting
- How can I fill the blank in order to do this?
- Eliminate options/pairs that don’t fit the connotation (I would be careful with eliminating neutral)
- Eliminate options/pairs that don’t fit the semantics:
- No evidence → could be true, but the opposite could also be true, we just don’t know
- Contradicts (opposite of what we are looking for) OR logically contradicts something in the sentence
- Usage → the word grammatically make sense
- Justify your answer/pair → explain why its correct using connotation and semantics
- If you’re struggling, fill it in with a word (using usage) and then reverse engineer to figure out what its saying
Do you mean fill it in with a word from the answer choices?
No any word that makes sense to you. It’s to find the function of the blank (step 1) not for solving the problem
Could you tell me if my process is correct?
- “Though” signals contrast, and idea 2 about scientists seems negative because of the last bit “…enmeshed…”, so blank 1 should be positive, something like “perfect” or “unbiased”, which narrows it down to B and D
- If human beings are caught in a web of social and personal circumstances, then blank 2 will have a negative connotation and ‘rational’ is totally opposite, so B is out. By process of elimination, OA is D, but doesn’t “passionate” have a positive connotation?
Looks good!
Maybe in general, but connotation should be context dependent.
Scientists being “passionate” about a cause is actually bad, since their purpose is to be unbiased.