Soundness and Error

Objective: Understand cogent and choose it accurately in context.

cogent (adjective): Clear, logical, and convincing. Context sentences 1. Leila offered a cogent explanation of why the proposed schedule would overwhelm the tutoring staff. 2. The essay became more cogent when Marco connected each quotation to his central claim. 3. Despite its brevity, the director's cogent argument persuaded the committee to reconsider.

Objective: Understand sound and choose it accurately in context.

sound (adjective): Based on reliable evidence and correct reasoning. Context sentences 1. The panel accepted the recommendation because it rested on sound analysis of the available records. 2. A popular conclusion does not necessarily have a sound argument behind it. 3. Before expanding the program, the principal wanted a sound estimate of its annual costs.

Objective: Understand tenable and choose it accurately in context.

tenable (adjective): Able to remain a reasonable position when examined against evidence or objections. Context sentences 1. The historian's interpretation remained tenable after the newly discovered letters were examined. 2. Without evidence that the witnesses had met, the accusation of coordination was no longer tenable. 3. Several explanations are tenable because the surviving records do not distinguish among them.

Objective: Understand defensible and choose it accurately in context.

defensible (adjective): Able to be justified with reasonable evidence or arguments. Context sentences 1. The committee reached a defensible decision by applying the same published criteria to every applicant. 2. Her interpretation was defensible even though several classmates preferred a different one. 3. A defensible policy needs reasons that can withstand serious criticism.

Objective: Understand fallacious and choose it accurately in context.

fallacious (adjective): Containing an error in reasoning that makes an argument invalid. Context sentences 1. The claim that a policy must be wise because it is popular rests on fallacious reasoning. 2. Nora challenged the fallacious argument that one unsuccessful rehearsal guaranteed a disastrous performance. 3. An argument can sound confident while remaining fallacious.

Objective: Understand spurious and choose it accurately in context.

spurious (adjective): False or not genuine, despite being presented as authentic. Context sentences 1. The archive removed a spurious letter after discovering that its signature had been copied from a printed book. 2. The seller supplied a spurious certificate to make the ordinary vase appear historically important. 3. A spurious quotation circulated under the novelist's name even though she had never written it.

Objective: Understand specious and choose it accurately in context.

specious (adjective): Seeming convincing or correct at first, but failing under closer examination. Context sentences 1. The advertisement's specious comparison impressed viewers until they noticed that the packages contained different amounts. 2. His specious explanation relied on an attractive analogy that collapsed when applied to the actual problem. 3. The proposal offered a specious promise of savings by leaving maintenance costs out of its calculations.

Objective: Understand erroneous and choose it accurately in context.

erroneous (adjective): Incorrect or mistaken. Context sentences 1. An erroneous date in the introduction placed the meeting a week before it actually occurred. 2. The accountant corrected an erroneous total caused by counting the same payment twice. 3. An erroneous assumption about the narrator's identity changed how the class interpreted the ending.

Objective: Understand flawed and choose it accurately in context.

flawed (adjective): Containing a defect or weakness that reduces reliability or effectiveness. Context sentences 1. The investigation relied on a flawed questionnaire that encouraged respondents to agree. 2. Although the plan had a worthwhile goal, its flawed design left no time for staff training. 3. The critic admired the novel's ambition while describing its chronology as flawed.

Objective: Understand dubious and choose it accurately in context.

dubious (adjective): Giving reason to doubt its truth, reliability, or quality. Context sentences 1. The report's dubious estimate rested on figures that no one could trace to an original source. 2. The committee questioned the dubious claim that the new procedure required no training. 3. A dubious explanation may deserve investigation before anyone accepts or rejects it.