Distinguish corrupted results from reduced capacity
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
While testing a new reader poll, an editor accidentally allowed practice responses to contaminate the final results by mixing them with actual submissions. A separate problem caused an impairment of the editing system: a failed search function reduced the team's ability to find older files. Both difficulties were detrimental to the publication's work, but they required different responses. The editor separated the poll records and documented the search problem instead of assuming that one general cleanup would correct every kind of harm.
Practice entries could contaminate the poll even if the form continued to function normally, because unwanted material made the result unreliable. The search impairment concerned a reduction in working capacity, not proof that every stored file was inaccurate. Each problem was detrimental in its own way: one undermined the poll's usefulness, while the other hindered access to earlier work. By describing the effects precisely, the team could check the corrected results and the restored search separately before relying on them again.
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.