<p>I have presented plenty of points and I’ve just been told that it’s clearly vehement and that “Believe it or not” is “subtly forceful” (whatever that’s supposed to mean).</p>
<p>I understand why people would pick vehemence, but it is honestly not supported by the passage now that we’ve seen it.</p>
<p>if it’s not caustic im deleting my account… u guys hold me to that</p>
<p>We also don’t know if that’s the exact passage. That’s why I am saying we have to wait. There is a reason why so many put vehement. I am very sure if it had been the discovered passage, we would have put caustic instead.</p>
<p>I don’t know… to quote a recent poster, “Caustic implies scathing, sarcastic, burning… able to corrode tissue…” It seems like a lot of people only considered one definition of caustic and still do not see certain statements as sarcastic.</p>
<p>If the passages were significantly changed, then it could be vehement, but I really don’t think there was so large of a difference to change the entire tone of the passage.</p>
<p>^ And there is a reason why a significant amount put caustic. If it’s a level 5 question, which I’m betting it is, then many people will get it wrong.</p>
<p>Yep to both. I put vehement but caustic is the much stronger answer. </p>
<p>PS jd989898 what will you do if the question is dropped? :P</p>
<p>@notanengineer</p>
<p>Isn’t it a bit hypocritical for you to assume that vehemence HAS to be portrayed as an excessive display of passion, when you tailor the definition of caustic so that it means “gentle, subtle bitterness” – when in reality, the definition of caustic is just as (if not more) inflexible than that of vehemence?</p>
<p>Can’t wait until we get the results…</p>
<p>Well caustic means extremely critical, not just ultra-sarcastic and bitter. The author was extremely critical of coal.</p>
<p>edit- at least based on the passage that we keep referring to for proving our points</p>
<p>edit 2- actually, based on dictionary.com, Caustic seems TOO harsh. I know what caustic is. When I am reading a caustic passage, I go “Ouch…”…this one really didn’t give that notion…so…sigh :/</p>
<ol>
<li>Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.</li>
<li>Corrosive and bitingly trenchant; cutting. </li>
<li>Causing a burning or stinging sensation, as from intense emotion.</li>
</ol>
<p>@notanengineer</p>
<p>Look up caustic. It is a very extreme word, with a connotation that you clearly underestimated. While I chose “vehemence” because I SPECIFICALLY knew what “caustic” means, you chose “caustic” because you had a flawed perception of the word.</p>
<p>@nostalgicwisdom: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking when I took the test. Caustic reminded me too much of a petty, personal insult like “How could anyone like someone as stupid as you?”</p>
<p>In general it seems way too scathing for a factual piece about nuclear power.</p>
<p>@NewYorkMets What is vehement not an extreme word too? Forceful, intense, ardor, zealot aren’t extreme at all? lol</p>
<p>I see value in both arguments, though.</p>
<p>From the caustic camp (see what I did there?):
-The paragraph is very critical
-The author is not passionate, just objective</p>
<p>From the vehement camp:
-Caustic has a connotation that is too harsh
-The author is passionate and forceful about his cause</p>
<p>As with anything, some synonyms are less precise than others. The point is, even if “zealous” is too extreme, the pertinence of zealous to the passage can at least be argued for. </p>
<p>With caustic, the story is completely different. Almost all the synonyms of “caustic” do not match up with the passage; remember that caustic implies a scathing hatred at most, and bitter sarcasm at the very least. Either way you look at it, caustic is not a good way to describe the writing.</p>
<p>EDIT: I don’t see any validity in the argument that “caustic” implies objectivity. Yes, “vehemence” may intimate a personal conviction, but “caustic” (in my mind) suggests a hatred and bitterness that is just as personal.</p>
<p>I was kind of stuck between the two but in the end I picked vehement. Why? Because caustic seemed to be too harsh it’s not like his family was killed by coal production. He was very passionate about nuclear energy and he had obviously done a lot of research on it. He was very critical but not in the way I think caustic expresses. This really wasn’t a good question.</p>
<p>I agree. Regardless of who’s right or wrong, this was a pretty ambiguous question. I found a lot of the reading questions to be this way.</p>
<p>@almost there: But the question asked about his tone for that paragraph only. He may have been passionate about nuclear energy, but not in that paragraph.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>All you need is 1 correct definition for the word to be appropriate. “Caustic” can mean “severely critical” and slightly bitter, which is how the author was and felt about coal. </p>
<p>You keep thinking, NewYorkMet, that there is 1-2 definitions of “caustic”, “scathing hatred” and “bitter sarcasm.” Ironic how you say that because you claimed earlier in the post that there are multiple synonyms to a word and some are “less precise then others”</p>
<p>edit: yeah this question sucked. I hope CB sees this huge debate we are having and decide to toss the question</p>
<p>I agree that caustic has some contrasting connotations, and that, if it had said “critical” instead of caustic, almost everyone would have chosen that. During the test, I was more not choosing vehement than choosing caustic. I didn’t think either fit the passage, but now that I see that vehement is “emotional” and “passionate” and caustic can be “severely critical,” I am glad I chose caustic.</p>
<p>The passage is very critical with indisputable instances of irony/sarcasm. That is what caustic has going for it. I still don’t see the vehemence in the passage and am open to someone showing me specifically.</p>
<p>caustic and vehement can both be interpreted as harsh.</p>
<p>I picked caustic though, because he was speaking shrewdly, but not out of intense anger or anything. And he was critical, vehement is negative in terms of anger emotion, caustic is CRITICAL.</p>
<p>You know your a CC member that took the October SAT when you had an war over Caustic vs Vehement.</p>
<p>Yes, cortana, I did say that a word may have several definitions. But the point is, although vehement has connotations of varying levels, each varying definition retains some pertinence to the passage. </p>
<p>I dislike “caustic” because even at its weakest, the word implies that there is some sort of animosity that I simply don’t see in the passage. </p>
<p>EDIT: Critical is NOT a synonym of caustic. And vehemence does not have a negative connotation, whereas caustic does.</p>