Digital PSAT Reading and Writing Practice Question 76: Answer and Explanation

Question: 76

To begin to understand the possibilities of time, we first need a brief introduction of spacetime. We're all familiar with our three-dimensional world, but we need to consider a fourth dimension as well-time. Time passes. Therefore, you can sit still in a chair not traveling in three dimensions, but traveling in spacetime. We think of time as passing forward.

As used in the text, what does the word passing most nearly mean?

• A. Living
• B. Moving
• C. Throwing
• D. Succeeding

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

(B) Passing in this context means "going" or "progressing" because the sentence is expressing the nature of time. The best answer is moving, since it comes closest to meaning "going" or "progressing." It is not (A), living, because time is not a living thing, and is not described in this way-even metaphorically-in the surrounding sentences. It is not (C), because the type of movement that time undergoes is not a physical throw, but an abstract process. It is not (D), because although succeeding can mean "following," passing is describing an ongoing process, not a series of separate events.