When he heard the gunshot, he ran into a thick forest.

Analyze the question The underlined word is "thick" in "he ran into a thick forest." We need the word closest in meaning to "thick" in this context.

Explain the concept "Thick" has several meanings depending on context:

• Of a solid object: wide from one side to the other (a thick book)
• Of a liquid: not runny (thick soup)
• Of a person: slow to understand (informal)
• Of vegetation, such as a forest, bush, or hair: growing closely together, with many plants or strands packed tightly. The word for this is dense.

Solution

1. The sentence is about a forest, so "thick" describes how the trees grow, which means many trees packed closely together.
2. Test each option: • A. tight: used for things fastened firmly or fitting closely (tight shoes, tight rope). We don't say "a tight forest." • B. deep: "deep forest" is a real phrase, but it suggests far inside or remote, not how closely the trees grow. • C. dense: means closely packed together. "Dense forest" is the standard collocation, and it matches "thick" exactly. • D. close: it can mean near together, but "close forest" is not natural English.
3. Substituting "dense" gives "he ran into a dense forest," which keeps the meaning unchanged.

Answer: C. dense

Exam tip In synonym questions, always replace the underlined word with each option and see which one keeps the sentence's meaning and sounds natural. Remember these pairs: thick forest = dense forest, thick fog = heavy or dense fog, thick soup = viscous soup. Watch out for "deep," which is a tempting distractor.