SAT Question of the Day #20

The sentence below contains two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted.  Choose the word set that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Ironically, viewers found the public service announcement on teenage drug use both ______ and ______; its emotional impact, however, was not undercut by its brevity.

A.  denigrating … meandering
B.  enervating … compact
C.  touching … fictional
D.  rationalistic … argumentative
E.  poignant … terse

The answer is:  E  poignant / terse  

How to get to this answer:  “Ironically” suggests that the two words are typically not used together, so the correct answer must include a contrast.  The clause after the semicolon defines the blanks.  Use those words as predictions: emotional and brief. 

A.  The second word is opposite to your prediction.
B.  The second word works here, but the first word does not; also, they do not contrast.
C.  These words lack the necessary contrast.
D.  Neither of these words is supported by the keywords, nor do they contrast.
E.  This works; it is also the only choice that offers the contrast you need.