Look beneath the polished surface
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
The polished box could belie the unfinished state of the game inside, because its attractive cover concealed several missing components. The reviewers protected their objectivity by comparing the contents with the same checklist used for a plain prototype from another designer. An underlying assumption in the packing process treated a filled-looking tray as proof that every required piece was present. The team replaced that impression with a count by component type, discovering a procedural weakness that a photograph of the closed box would never reveal.
A handsome cover might belie incomplete contents even when nobody intended to mislead the reviewers. Maintaining objectivity required checking the game against relevant requirements rather than rewarding its presentation or punishing its designer for the first error. The underlying assumption failed again when extra small pieces made another incomplete tray appear full. The team added a component count to each packing sheet and tested the revised process on both prototypes, connecting the correction to the actual source of the misleading impression.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.