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December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year

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sandy
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December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   22 Oct 2017, 16:22
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December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year for a small island nation recently wracked by civil strife and devastating tropical storms.
Blank (i)
(A) prologue
(B) catharsis
(C) coda
(D) homily
(E) rampage



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sandy
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   01 Nov 2017, 17:51
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Explanation

You need a word that means something like a bad ending. A coda is an ending that sums up what came before, which, in this case, was pretty bad. A rampage is bad but does not fit grammatically before “to,” nor does it correctly describe an earthquake — rather, murderers or mobs go on rampages.

Coda.
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   25 Jan 2018, 05:07
You need a word that means something like a bad ending. A coda is an ending that sums up what came before, which, in this case, was pretty bad. A rampage is bad but does not fit grammatically before “to,” nor does it correctly describe an earthquake — rather, murderers or mobs go on rampages.
apt !!
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   21 Aug 2018, 22:46
Kudos for the explanation.
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   27 Oct 2019, 13:25
Thanks for the explanation
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   26 May 2021, 11:33
isn't the "but" after "earthquake was" erroneously included in the sentence?
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Re: December’s earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   27 May 2021, 10:40
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You have nothing but a pencil.

You have only a pencil.
That is the role of BUT

The earthquake was just a coda or the last event in a series that lasted since the beginning of the year.

I hope this helps
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Re: Decembers earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink] New post   07 Mar 2026, 02:24
Hello from the GRE Prep Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GRE Prep Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

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Re: Decembers earthquake was but a _________ to a terrible year [#permalink]
07 Mar 2026, 02:24
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