Could someone guide me on why the answer is precipitate?
Headlong does make sense that it happened over a period of time. I am not sure how precipitate fits in here.
I would tackle the question like this.
People think the roman collapse as _______
In reality (Contrast)
Only the western roman civ collapsed and it took a LONG TIME
So we can discern that the collapse was perceived as sudden.
- precarious = risk of collapsing (irrelevant, not really an action verb just because something is risky doesn’t mean it will happen)
- wary = hesitant (irrelevant as hesitancy leads to inaction rather than a sudden collapse)
- cautious = careful (irrelevant, pedantry isn’t in line with a sudden collapse)
- prosaic = boring (irrelevant, boring isn’t in line with a sudden collapse)
- headlong = charge in or go head first (This shows rushing towards something)
- precipitate = on the edge/to cause something (This fits cuz it shows a sudden action)
I was also confused with this question. While I knew all the words it really didn’t fit so I used PoE to remove wary, cautious prosaic and I was stuck with precarious, headlong and precipitate. Based on the definitions, headlong and precipitate are the most likely pair.
Thank you so much for the thorough explanation, that explains it.
Chiming in…
Precipitate (adj) means “happening suddenly or without careful consideration.”