Students who excel in mathematics often develop strong logical reasoning skills that benefit them in other disciplines.
数学优秀的学生往往培养出强大的逻辑推理能力，这使他们在其他学科中受益。
Which choice best defines “excel”?
A — Be very good at. “excel” means be very good at.
Which word means “be very good at”?
B — excel. “excel” means be very good at.
excel — be very good at. In Chinese: 擅长，胜过.
excel is pronounced /ɪkˈsel/.
Students who excel in mathematics often develop strong logical reasoning skills that benefit them in other disciplines. (数学优秀的学生往往培养出强大的逻辑推理能力，这使他们在其他学科中受益。)
surpass, outshine, dominate — all close in meaning to excel (be very good at).
fail, struggle — each the opposite of excel (be very good at).
Yes. excel is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
ex(out)+cel(rise)