The promise of a research grant motivated the young scientist to pursue her ambitious study of deep-sea ecosystems.
研究资助的承诺激励了这位年轻科学家去追求她对深海生态系统的雄心勃勃的研究。
Economist Dominic Reyes contends that most long-term investors are motivated primarily by portfolio diversification and retirement planning rather than marginal changes in after-tax return, meaning a modest rate increase is unlikely to significantly change investment behavior.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
A survey of graduate students found that those who scheduled dedicated, recurring writing blocks on their calendar reported significantly less dissertation-related stress than those who wrote only when they felt motivated, even after accounting for total weekly writing hours and years in the program.
From a Inferences question · Information and Ideas
Which choice best defines “motivate”?
A — To provide someone with a reason to do something. “motivate” means to provide someone with a reason to do something.
Which word means “to provide someone with a reason to do something”?
D — motivate. “motivate” means to provide someone with a reason to do something.
motivate — to provide someone with a reason to do something. In Chinese: 激励，激发.
motivate is pronounced /ˈmoʊtɪˌveɪt/.
The promise of a research grant motivated the young scientist to pursue her ambitious study of deep-sea ecosystems. (研究资助的承诺激励了这位年轻科学家去追求她对深海生态系统的雄心勃勃的研究。)
inspire, encourage, spur — all close in meaning to motivate (to provide someone with a reason to do something).
discourage, dissuade — each the opposite of motivate (to provide someone with a reason to do something).
Yes. motivate is on the SAT Prep Easy list — mid-frequency academic words that do get tested. 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.