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Reading and Writing · Craft and Structure

Polysemous academic word

Untimed practice
Question 1

Archivist Leila Morgan’s team examined 16 brittle parchment sheets. To sustain each sheet during imaging, the researchers placed it on a rigid support. Their software compared 9 wavelengths to distinguish genuine ink traces from stains. Preliminary patterns indicated that a second text remained beneath the visible writing, but Leila Morgan offered a restrained interpretation until more sheets could be scanned. The object is a palimpsest—a manuscript page whose earlier writing was erased so the material could be reused. Even so, the hidden diagrams kindled a new debate about how mathematical ideas circulated. Several marks appeared consistently on more than one sheet, but the team had not yet examined the full collection.

As used in the text, what does “sustain” most nearly mean?
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