Look beyond the combined total
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
An aggregation of supply lists gave the student craft fair one combined record of everything the clubs could contribute. It revealed an overabundance of ribbon but an insufficiency of display stands for the number of sellers expected. The large total number of donated items had initially made the organizers think that every need was covered. Once Mara separated the items by their purpose, the group could see why a plentiful supply of one material did not solve a shortage of something entirely different.
The aggregation was useful because it brought scattered lists together, but it did not make the supplies interchangeable. An overabundance of ribbon meant there was more than the fair could use, while the insufficiency of stands depended on how many displays required support. Mara proposed lending unused stands from another club and setting aside the extra ribbon for a later activity. Her revised account explained both the combined collection and the specific mismatches that a single impressive total had hidden.
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.