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TOEIC Link Part 5: ascent versus assent

Ascent is a noun meaning an upward climb or rise; assent is most often a noun or verb meaning agreement or to agree. They sound nearly identical, and Part 5 uses that overlap to test whether you read for meaning and part of speech.

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TOEIC Link Part 5: ascent versus assent

Ascent and assent are near-homophones that point in completely different directions. Ascent is a noun about moving or rising upward; assent is about agreeing. Because business passages talk about both rising figures and managers approving decisions, Part 5 can drop either word into a blank and let the ear, rather than the meaning, choose. For another pair separated mostly by sound, see eminent versus imminent.

The core rule: a climb versus an agreement

  • ascent (noun) = an upward movement, climb, or rise. The plane's ascent was smooth. / The company's rapid ascent to market leader surprised analysts.
  • assent (noun or verb) = agreement, or to agree formally. The board gave its assent to the merger. (noun) / The committee assented to the new policy. (verb)

The spelling clue is small but reliable. Ascent begins like ascend — both share the asc- root about climbing. Assent doubles the s and shares its -sent ending with consent, another word about agreement. If the sentence is about climbing or rising, you want ascent; if it is about agreeing, you want assent.

Why Part 5 likes this pair

The two words rarely fit the same slot, so the surrounding sentence settles the answer — if you read for meaning.

The senior partners must give their __ before the contract is signed.

The blank is something the partners give in order to approve a contract, so the noun assent (agreement) fits. Ascent (a climb) makes no sense here.

The hikers paused halfway through the steep __ to rest.

Here the blank names a steep upward climb, so ascent is required.

Spotting the clue in the structure

Ask what the blank is about:

  • It involves rising, climbing, or an upward path (a steep ascent, the ascent of prices, a rapid ascent) → choose ascent.
  • It involves approval or agreement, often something given, withheld, or sought (royal assent, give one's assent, assent to a proposal) → choose assent.

Remember that assent can be a verb (to assent to something), while ascent is only a noun. If the blank follows to and takes an object, you are almost certainly looking at the verb assent. For another word that shifts between noun and verb roles, see device versus devise.

Quick self-check

  1. The minister formally __ to the revised treaty. (assented — the verb of agreement)
  2. The mountaineers documented every stage of the __. (ascent — the upward climb)

Takeaway

If the blank is about going up — a climb, a rise, an upward path — you need the noun ascent, cousin of ascend. If the blank is about agreeing — approval given, a proposal accepted — you need assent, cousin of consent. Read the sentence for direction, climbing or agreeing, and the matching sound stops being a trap.