Official Sentence completion question

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1

<p>Previous to the discovery of one intact ancient burial site in Central America, it had been thought that all of the Mayan tombs had been ____ by thieves.</p>

<p>a. eradicated
b. exacerbated
c. prevaricated
d. subordinated
e. desecrated </p>

<p>what do you think is the answer?</p>

2

<p>desecrated</p>

3

<p>Correct!
Could you explain why the answer choice cannot be eradicated?
Also I don’t understand why “to make less religious” can be the answer…</p>

4

<p>desecrated can mean damaged too, with fits into the sentence since it contrasts with intact :)</p>

5

<p>Desecrate has two definitions:

  1. “to violate the sacred character of a place or language”
  2. “to treat with contempt” (EX: “many desecrated shrines and cemeteries”)</p>

<p>In this case, it’s the second definition.</p>

6

<p>thank you!</p>

7

<p>Eradicate would imply that the tombs were literally wiped off the face of the earth. Use common sense: would thieves really go through the effort of completely destroying the tombs or would they just take what they wanted and leave?</p>

<p>The sentence gives you clues that the answer will be the opposite of intact (untouched). Just because something is no longer intact doesn’t mean that it has been completely destroyed.</p>