Blue Book Sentence Completion... How is this Right?

<p>Here is the question:</p>

<p>That critic's writing is so obscure and dense that upon first reading, one finds its ---- hard to penetrate.
-Brevity
-Rigidity
-Floridity
-Harmony
-Opacity</p>

<p>I said floridity, but the answer is opacity?
Wouldn't floridity be right, as in "elaborately or excessively intricate or complicated" ?
What do you think?</p>

<p>I think opacity is more directly related to the obscurity and density mentioned in the first clause. In fact, one of Webster's definitions for opacity is obscurity. Floridity, on the other hand, while not a bad answer, isn't strictly implied by the sentence.</p>

<p>ah, I get what you mean. Especially when you put it that way, because if obscurity was there I would've picked it. thanks!</p>

<p>rigidity wouldnt be that bad of an answer either..bad question!</p>

<p>Something doesn't have to be intricate or complex to be obscure or dense. Murky water always comes to mind when I hear the wear opaque.</p>

<p>
[quote]
rigidity wouldnt be that bad of an answer either..bad question!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's actually a decent question. There is nothing in the sentence to indicate that the writing was rigid. I think you were thrown off by "hard to penetrate" and automatically thought "rigid."</p>

<p>I have taken this exact blue book test, in my book it said that opacity was the correct answer, make sure you're reading the correct answer key. Opacity is the correct answer they may have updated the book.</p>

<p>james-i agree that opacity is a much better answer than rigidity, but if rigidity were in the blank it would still make sense. therefore, i don't like the question :O.</p>

<p>^ True, but there are questions like that all the time on the SAT, especially on CR passage questions, where there ARE multiple answers that are "true but wrong" because they don't fully answer the question or aren't strictly implied in the text, so it's important to get used to them.</p>