1840

Question 1

pungent

Answer 1

D. sharp; biting

Question 2

punitive

\ˈpyü-nə-tiv\

Answer 2

D. pertaining to punishment

E. any misbehavior was immediately met with a punitive response

Question 3

purloin

Answer 3

D. to steal

Question 4

purport

\ˈpər-ˌpȯrt\

Answer 4

D. to claim

E. do you purport to spend the rest of your life on that couch, or do you think you might get a job someday? / he purports to be an expert in criminalistics

Question 5

purveyor

Answer 5

D. one who supplies

E. a purveyor of kitchen supplies

Question 6

purview

Answer 6

D. scope; range; limit

E. That question is outside my purview. / The moral dilemmas of the early settlers are beyond the purview of this book.

Question 7

pusillanimous

\pyoo-sə-ˈla-nə-məs\

Answer 7

D. timid; uncourageous

E. pusillanimous politicians who vote according to whichever way the political wind is blowing

Question 8

putative

Answer 8

D. commonly accepted or supposed

E. the putative reason for her dismissal was poor job performance

Question 9

putrid

Answer 9

D. rotten, stinking; very unpleasant

E. the putrid smell of rotten meat / a putrid pink colour

Question 10

quack

Answer 10

D. a charlatan

E. quack cancer cures

Question 11

quaff

\ˈkwäf\

Answer 11

D. to drink

E. We stopped at a bar and quaffed a few beers.

Question 12

quagmire

\ˈkwag-ˌmī(-ə)r\

Answer 12

D. an area of soft wet ground; a difficult or dangerous situation

E. The heavy rain soon turned the field into a quagmire. / the party was once again facing its quadrennial (4-year) quagmire: the candidate sufficiently liberal to win the nomination would be too liberal for the general election

Question 13

quail

Answer 13

D. to lose courage

E. He quailed at the thought of seeing her again. / Other politicians quailed before him.

Question 14

qualm

\ˈkwäm\

Answer 14

D. a sudden ill feeling

E. He accepted their offer without a qualm.

Question 15

quandary

\ˈkwän-d(ə-)rē\

Answer 15

D. a state of perplexity or doubt; a delimma

E. The unexpected results of the test have created a quandary for researchers. / I’m in a quandary about whether I should try to repair my stereo or buy a new one, even though I don’t have the money to do either.

Question 16

queasy

\ˈkwē-zē\

Answer 16

D. feeling sick; wanting to vomit; slightly nervous or worried about something

E. Travelling by boat makes me queasy. / Now she’d arrived she felt queasy inside.

Question 17

quell

Answer 17

D. to subdue; to quiet

Question 18

querulous

Answer 18

D. complaining

Question 19

query

\ˈkwir-ē\

Answer 19

D. a question

E. I have a query about my order.

Question 20

quibble

\ˈkwi-bəl\

Answer 20

D. to argue or complain about a small matter or an unimportant detail

E. he spent the entire evening quibbling about the historical inaccuracies in the television series on World War II

Question 21

quiescent

Answer 21

D. inactive

Question 22

quietude

\ˈkwī-ə-ˌtüd\

Answer 22

D. quiet; rest

E. the quietude of the early morning was broken only by the occasional chirping of birds

Question 23

quintessence

Answer 23

D. the most perfect example

Question 24

quip

\ˈkwip\

Answer 24

D. a witty remark

E. to make a quip

Question 25

quirk

Answer 25

D. an aspect of somebody’s personality or behaviour that is a little strange; a strange thing that happens, especially by accident

E. Everyone has their own little quirks and mannerisms. / By a strange quirk of fate they had booked into the same hotel. / a quirky sense of humour

Question 26

quixotic

\kwik-ˈsä-tik\

Answer 26

D. having or involving ideas or plans that show imagination but are usually not practical (From the character Don Quixote in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, whose adventures are a result of him trying to achieve or obtain things that are impossible.)

E. They had quixotic dreams about the future.

Question 27

quizzical

\ˈkwi-zi-kəl\

Answer 27

D. showing that you are slightly surprised or amused; comically quaint; mildly teasing or mocking

E. He gave me a quizzical look when I ordered champagne. / a quizzical old man / a quizzical remark

Question 28

rabble

Answer 28

D. a large group of noisy people who are or may become violent; ordinary people or people who are considered to have a low social position

E. He was met by a rabble of noisy, angry youths. / a speech that appealed to the rabble

Question 29

rabid

Answer 29

D. violent; fanatical

E. a politician with rabid supporters / Her husband is a rabid baseball fan.

Question 30

raillery

\ˈrā-lə-rē\

Answer 30

D. good-natured ridicule

E. Luke had to put up with a lot of raillery from his sister the first time he asked a girl for a date.

Question 31

raiment

\ˈrā-mənt\

Answer 31

D. clothing

E. the prince exchanged his silken raiment for the pauper’s humble homespun

Question 32

ramification

\ˌra-mə-fə-ˈkā-shən\

Answer 32

D. one of the large number of complicated and unexpected results that follow an action or a decision

E. These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications.

Question 33

rampant

Answer 33

D. existing or spreading everywhere in a way that cannot be controlled

e. Unemployment is now rampant in most of Europe.

Question 34

rancid

Answer 34

D. if food containing fat is rancid, it tastes or smells unpleasant because it is no longer fresh

E. Butter soon goes/turns(= becomes)rancid in this heat.

Question 35

rancor

Answer 35

D. hate, especially because you think that somebody has done something unfair to you

E. There was rancor in his voice. / She learned to accept criticism without rancor. / The talks became increasingly bitter and rancorous.

Question 36

rankle

Answer 36

D. if something such as an event or a remark rankles, it makes you feel angry or upset for a long time

E. Her comments still rankled. / His decision to sell the land still rankled with her.

Question 37

rant

Answer 37

D. to speak or complain about something in a loud and/or angry way; rave

E. “You can rant and rave all you want,” she said, “but it’s not going to change things.”

Question 38

rapacious

\rə-ˈpā-shəs\

Answer 38

D. greedy; predatory; ravenous

E. nothing livens things up like a whole team of rapacious basketball players descending upon the pizza parlor / the rapacity of landowners seeking greater profit

Question 39

rapine

\ˈra-pīn\

Answer 39

D. pillage, plunder

E. It will never answer to allow our free borders to be made the scene of bloodshed and rapine .

Question 40

rapprochement

\ˌra-ˌprōsh-ˈmäⁿ\

Answer 40

D. a bringing together; establishment of or state of having cordial relations

E. Officials hope that these talks will lead to a rapprochement with the rebels.

Question 41

rarefied

Answer 41

D. refined; thin (to make rare)

E. the rarefied atmosphere of academic life / Climbers may experience difficulty breathing in the rarefied air at high altitudes.

Question 42

ratiocination

\ra-dio-sin-ˈnā-shən

Answer 42

D. reasoning

E. as an expert in ratiocination, the detective Sherlock Holmes has few rivals

Question 43

raucous

Answer 43

D. loud and rowdy

Question 44

ravage

\ˈra-vij\

Answer 44

D. to ruin

E. a land ravaged by war

Question 45

ravening

Answer 45

d. look greedily for prey

Question 46

rationalize

Answer 46

D. to find or try to find a logical reason to explain why somebody thinks, behaves, etc. in a way that is difficult to understand; to make changes to a business, system, etc. in order to make it more efficient, especially by spending less money

E. an attempt to rationalize his violent behaviour / Twenty workers lost their jobs when the department was rationalized.