EXACERBATE

The new infamous “Water Scarcity” question appeared in Module 2 of the Reading and Writing section of the August 22, 2026 US SAT. The question generated an extensive discussion on Reddit and other online sources. Let’s take a close look at the passage and its two controversial answers.

The Passage

Iraq, Sudan, China and many other nations now face severe shortages of fresh water. Hydrogen production via water electrolysis offers a way of alleviating the crisis. According to the passage, it has a “negligible” or minimal impact on water usage. The sentence containing the blank featured a negative construction, stating that the hydrogen solution wouldn’t ______ the water scarcity problem in vulnerable countries across the world.

The Vocabulary Options

If the sentence reads “would do little to ____ the water scarcity” the blank needs the remedial verb ASSUAGE meaning to lessen or alleviate a problem

BUT, if the sentence reads “is thus unlikely to ______ water scarcity globally,” the blank needs the worsening verb EXACERBATE meaning to make things worse.

So what is the answer?

Students vigorously debated the reasons why both ASSUAGE and EXACERBATE are defensible answers. Everything depends upon the exact way the question is worded. I think it is possible that there are actually TWO versions of this question. If this is correct, then ASSUAGE is the best answer for one version while EXACERBATE best fits a second version

All keep you updated as new information becomes available!

ASSUAGE – to make a situation less severe; alleviate

EXACERBATE – to make a problem or bad situation worse

I can now confirm that there is a version of the question in which the passage states, “the industry’s growth is thus unlikely to ______ water scarcity globally.” EXACERBATE is thus a confirmed answer! I am becoming less and less confident that there is a second version of this question. I’ll keep you posed as new information becomes available!