Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow. Just as the…
2025
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Just as the oceans opened up a new world for clipper ships and Yankee traders, space holds enormous potential for commerce today. The International Space Station (ISS) took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble. It is the result of unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries. The space station is approximately the size of a football field: a 460-ton, permanently crewed platform orbiting 250 miles above Earth. It is about four times as large as the Russian space station Mir and five times as large as the U.S. Skylab. The idea of a space station was once science fiction, existing only in the imagination until it became clear in the 1940s that construction of such a structure might be attainable by our nation. As the Space Age began in the 1950s, designs of 'space planes' and stations dominated popular media. The first rudimentary station was created in 1969 by the linking of two Russian Soyuz vehicles in space, followed by other stations and developments in space technology until construction began on the ISS in 1998, aided by the first reusable spacecraft ever developed: the American shuttles. Until recently, U.S. research space onboard the ISS had been reserved for mostly government initiatives, but new opportunities for commercial and academic use of the ISS are now available, facilitated by the ISS National Lab.
Find the ANTONYM of the word 'rudimentary'.
- A.
Elementary
- B.
Basic
- C.
Simple
- D.
Advanced
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
An antonym is a word whose meaning is opposite to another word's meaning. To find the antonym of a word used in a passage, first pin down the sense in which the passage uses that word, then pick the option that expresses the reverse of that sense — not merely a related or similar idea.
In the passage, "rudimentary" describes the very first, most basic version of a space station — one that was still simple and had not yet been developed further. So the word's contextual sense here is "basic, elementary, at an early stage of development." Its antonym must therefore express the opposite sense: "far developed, complex, or sophisticated."
"Elementary" names the same basic, early-stage sense as "rudimentary," so it is a synonym, not an antonym.
"Basic" names the same plain, foundational, undeveloped state as "rudimentary" — again a synonym.
"Simple" likewise describes something uncomplicated and unrefined, matching rather than opposing "rudimentary."
"Advanced" describes something far developed, refined, and sophisticated — the reverse of a basic, early stage, which is exactly what an antonym of "rudimentary" must express.
Cross-checking against established dictionaries confirms this: Collins Dictionary lists "advanced" as an antonym of "rudimentary," while "elementary," "basic," and "simple" are documented as synonyms of it in Cambridge and Merriam-Webster.
Hence, "Advanced" is the correct antonym of "rudimentary" among the options offered.