原题再现

One of the things that most impressed the original audience for photography was the idea of authenticity. Nature now seemed able to speak for itself, with a minimum of interference. The title Talbot chose for his book, The Pencil of Nature (the first part of which was published in 1844), reflected this feeling. Artists were fascinated by photography because it offered a way of examining the world in much greater detail. They were also afraid of it, because it seemed likely to make their own efforts unnecessary.
The word "authenticity" in the passage is closest in meaning to
improvement
practicality
genuineness
repetition

答案解析
解析：托福阅读词汇题的做题方法除了“词缀法”和“近义词”法之外，还有另外一种方法：“举例法”。有时文章中会出现一个概念词，而下文会用一种例子来对其进行阐述。因此，我们的目标是却确定所考词汇的下文有无一些明显的举例论证即可。比如上文当中出现了“authenticity”, 而下文是“Nature now seemed able to speak for itself, with a minimum of interference.”也就是表明正是由于“authenticity”, 所以“自然可以为自己代言”。因此此词肯定是“真实”的意思。故答案是第三个。