Words in Context SAT question

Choice D is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of the location of the province of Xoconochco within the Aztec Empire. As used in this context, “peripheral” means situated toward the outer bounds rather than the center. The text indicates that Xoconochco was located on a coast, hundreds of kilometers away from the capital of the Aztec Empire. The text also states that trade between the province and the capital required “a long overland journey.” This context suggests that Xoconochco was situated toward an edge of the empire’s territory rather than near its center.

Choice A is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context to refer to Xoconochco’s location within the Aztec Empire as “unobtrusive,” or not blatant or undesirably prominent; it’s not clear how a province’s physical location would or wouldn’t be blatant. Instead of focusing on how noticeable Xoconochco’s location was, the text emphasizes the province’s distance from the capital of the empire, pointing out that because of this distance trade between the two required “a long overland journey.” Choice B is incorrect because the text indicates that the province of Xoconochco was located on a coast far from the capital of the Aztec Empire, not that it was “concealed,” or kept out of sight or hidden from view. Nothing in the text suggests that Xoconochco was actually hidden such that people couldn’t see it, and being hidden wouldn’t necessarily result in trade between the province and the capital requiring “a long overland journey.” Choice C is incorrect because to say that Xoconochco’s location within the Aztec Empire was “approximate” would mean that the location either wasn’t precisely correct or was close to some other location. Neither of these meanings would make sense in context because the text indicates that Xoconochco’s location is known and that it was far from the empire’s capital, so there’s no reason to characterize the location as either not precisely correct or close to another location.