GRE Mock 3 - Part 6

Question 1

Counterweight (n.)

Answer 1

It is also seen as part of Washington’s strategy to help India become a counterweight to China in the region.

Question 2

Cerebral (adj.)

Answer 2

She was a drama queen who could never come up with a cerebral approach to her problems.
Cerebral hemisphere.
(Related to your brain - using intelligence instead of instinct or emotion.)

Question 3

Foliage (n.)(uc.)

Answer 3

The leaves of a plant

Question 4

Pliable (adj.)

Answer 4

Senior officials would have preferred a more pliable government.
Since foliage is pliable, a hard landing won’t hurt.
(Able to bend without breaking or cracking - Easily influenced and controlled by other people)

Question 5

Ostentation (n.)(uc.)

Answer 5

Mr. Stevens became a double and maybe a triple billionaire along the way, but he never indulges in ostentation.
(showy display)

Question 6

Thrust (v.)

Answer 6

DNA, once the underdog of all biological molecules, was thrusted into the limelight.
The main thrust of the government’s education policy.
(To push forward quickly and forcibly - propel - impel
the main aim or meaning of something)

Question 7

Unflagging (adj.)

Answer 7

He works all day long, with unflagging concentration.
Unflagging support, determination, enthusiasm.
(never becoming weak - relentless - tireless)

Question 8

Shoddy (adj.)

Answer 8

Patients have requested to talk with higher-ups about shoddy conditions at isolation facilities.
We are not paying good money for shoddy goods.
(Made carelessly or cheaply, unfair and dishonest)

Question 9

Deliberation (n.)

Answer 9

Careful consideration

Question 10

Elegiac (adj.)

Answer 10

Although they were separated, she spoke of him in an elegiac tone after he died.
(Showing that you feel sad about someone who has died or something that doesn’t exist any longer.)

Question 11

Incendiary (adj.)

Answer 11

The explosion seems to have been started by an incendiary device.
A hip-hop album with incendiary lyrics.
(aimed to start a fire. aimed to make people angry.)

Question 12

Anathema (n.)(uc.)(Sig.)

Answer 12

His political views were anathema to me.
To me, the existence of Guantanamo is an anathema to everything we represent and it should be closed for that reason.
(something that is completely the opposite of what you believe in. abhorrent)

Question 13

Curt (adj.)

Answer 13

I’d never heard anyone use later to say goodbye, it sounded harsh, curt and dismissive, spoken with the veiled indifference of a person who may not care to see you again.
(brief and to the point - almost rude)

Question 14

Unprepossessing (adj.)

Answer 14

Walt Disney bought unprepossessing chunks of Florida land and transformed them into a neverland of princesses and walking mice.
(unremarkable - creating an unfavorable first impression)

Question 15

Unctuous (adj.)

Answer 15

He seemed eager to please, but not in an unctuous way.

ingratiating - buttering someone up - offering praise in a way that seems insincere

Question 16

Vitriolic (adj.)

Answer 16

Sulli took her own life at last, after having endured years of vitriolic remarks.
(acerbic - harsh - cruel - angry)

Question 17

Self-Effacing (adj.)

Answer 17

He was a shy, self-effacing man. never bragging about his various achievements.
(modest - reluctant to draw attention to himself)

Question 18

Vainglorious (adj.)

Answer 18

The vainglorious Trump felt like he was the second coming of Ronald Reagan.
(Too proud of your own abilities, importance, etc.)

Question 19

Pry (v.)

Answer 19

I don’t want to pry but I need to ask you a question or two about your affair with Mr. Hughes.
(Trying to find out details about someone’s private life in an impolite way.)

Question 20

Intercept (v.)

Answer 20

An attempt to intercept drugs being smuggled over the border.
(Trying to stop something or someone who is trying to go from one place to another.)

Question 21

Preface (v.)

Answer 21

Each book is prefaced with simple parental guidelines explaining the skills the exercise is trying to build.
(to say or do something before the main part)

Question 22

Preempt (v.)

Answer 22

I know what I did was wrong mom, I said in a bid to preempt whatever she had in mind.
(پیشدستی کردن)

Question 23

Canned (adj.)

Answer 23

You don’t warm up to this lady who delivers her line as if she is waiting for the canned laughter.
(formulaic - pre planned.)

Question 24

Tortuous (adj.)

Answer 24

It took six months of tortuous negotiation to reach an agreement.
Most of the village is accessible by boat or by tortuous jungle trails.
(complicated and long, confusing)

Question 25

Thrift (n.)(uc.)

Answer 25

Although the government had trumpeted the value of thrift, it has been as bold as any other in its spending programs.
(wise spending of money so none is wasted)

Question 26

Riveting (adj.)

Answer 26

We tare as if it is the most riveting thing in the world, which in the absence of our phones it actually is.
(fascinating)

Question 27

Extenuate (v.)

Answer 27

OPP=Exacerbate

Question 28

Adduce (v.)

Answer 28

But based on the evidence of bias against my client already adduced, the case should be dismissed.
(To give reasons in order to prove that something is true. cite)

Question 29

Oracle (n.)(c.)

Oracular (adj.)

Answer 29

Someone who ancient Greeks believed could communicate with the gods.
Oracular = prophetic

Question 30

Annihilate (v.)

Answer 30

Just one of these bombs could annihilate a city the size of New York.
(to destroy completely.)

Question 31

Meld (v.)

Answer 31

He melded country music with blues to create rock and roll.
The raindrops melded into a sheet of water.
(Combine -
meld something with something / meld into)

Question 32

Spearhead (n. sing,)(v.)

Answer 32

The troops who spearheaded the rescue mission were praised on the national media.
The group became the spearhead of the union movement.
(A group that leads an attack
v. to lead an attack or organized action.)

Question 33

Hagiography (n. c.)

Answer 33

Usually when musicians die as young and as tragically as him, they become the subject of hagiography.
(A biography the idolizes the person (especially if the person is a saint)

Question 34

Retraction (n. c.)

Answer 34

The newspaper was forced to publish a retraction of its allegations.
(A statement that what you said before is not true. )

Question 35

Muckraking (n. uc.)

Answer 35

A muckraking journalist casted doubt on his sexually and instigated relentless wonder that has shadowed all his interviews since then.
(The practice of writing unpleasant and untrue stories about people private lives.)

Question 36

Elongate (v.)

Answer 36

Wearing high heels elongate the legs.

E+Long+ate = make longer / become longer

Question 37

Unwittingly (adv.)

Answer 37

He had unwittingly broken the law.

unknowingly

Question 38

Acclamation (n.)

Answer 38

Gone was critical thinking, all political disputes ended up in the acclamation of the charismatic leader.
(A loud expression of approval or welcome)

Question 39

Retrenchment (n.)

Answer 39

this period of retrenchment will see companies shed staff

the reduction of costs or spending in response to economic difficulty.

Question 40

Sequester (v.)

Answer 40

He sequestered himself in the study to write a book.

to keep away from others

Question 41

Esteem (n. uc.)

Answer 41

The critics held him high in esteem as an actor.
My father’s complete lack of esteem for actors.
(Respect for someone – good opinion about someone)

Question 42

Insatiable (adj.)

Answer 42

His insatiable appetite for power.

Our insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Question 43

Despotic (adj.)

Answer 43

Adj for despot (Kim)

Question 44

Prolix (adj.)

Answer 44

Wordy - having too many words - boring

Question 45

Propensity (n.)(c.)

Answer 45

The male propensity to fight.
He seems to have a propensity for breaking things.
(Proclivity – predilection - tendency)