Sentence Completion Practice Flashcards
This deck builds the habit of good process and reinforces core vocabulary knowledge. Several passes with this deck and your errors on sentence completion should diminish toward zero. This first completion practice deck is a little easier than the second.
His assigned 60-page graduate thesis was a ________ task, since he’d never written a paper a quarter the size.
A) odious
B) prolonged
C) jocular
D) daunting
E) sober
D) daunting
Clues: never written, a quarter the size
David, wanting to find Mr. Rankeillor’s house, is willing to ________ a stranger on the street to help him identify it.
A) provoke
B) castigate
C) accost
D) interrogate
E) irritate
C) accost
Clues: find house, stranger
When Billy ________ the vat of soup and expects a harsh punishment, the tough master-at-arms merely ________ him in a way that puzzles the foretop man.
A) dislogdes…hastens
B) overturns…chides
C) upsets…chastises
D) reconnoiters…admonishes
E) topples…promulgates
B) overturns…chides
Clues: vat of soup, expects punishment, merely
The professor of medieval studies had a most ________ collection of office furniture selected from Danish, Spanish, Italian and Hungarian styles of ________ and even a piece from the Ikea catalogue.
A) comprehensive…authenticity
B) variegated…morbidity
C) eclectic…antiquity
D) scintillating…carpentry
E) exquisite…novelty
C) eclectic…antiquity
Clues: medieval, collection, Danish, Spanish, Italian, Hangarian, Ikea
The law school professor clearly ________ the boundaries of First Amendment rights as pertaining to ________ and slander.
A) demarcated…rumors
B) explored…slights
C) blurred…calumny
D) delineated…libel
E) deprecated…reputations
D) delineated…libel
Clues: boundaries, First Amendment
Though he undoubtedly shared the defensive plans at West Point to an enemy commander, Gen. Benedict Arnold certainly saw his actions as less ________ than the treason ________ in his court-martial.
A) problematic…cited
B) olfactory…implied
C) perfidious…alleged
D) nefarious…posed
E) notorious…defamed
C) perfidious…alleged
Clues: though, enemy commander, treason
The prisoners of war became ________ at ________ the rules of the camp, so that tunnels could be dug for escape.
A) pliant…molding
B) deft..circumventing
C) adroit…overslawing
D) adept…proscribing
E) obstreperous…respecting
B) deft…circumventing
Clues: prisoners, so that, tunnels, for escape
Catching and holding a frog from the water is challenging because its ________ skin allows it to slip away from a person’s grasp.
A) unctuous
B) lithe
C) pithy
D) malleable
E) arid
A) unctuous
Clues: catching, frog, challenging, because, skin, slip away
Though Rachel had just been informed by her mother that her dear dog was dead, she managed her job with remarkable ________ so that no one realized that she was heartbroken.
A) callousness
B) stoicism
C) nubility
D) equanimity
E) aplomp
D) equanimity
Clues: Though, dear dog dead, managed her job, no one realized, heartbroken
Since no one saw the crime committed, the physical evidence which identified the accused was the ________ of the prosecution’s case.
A) canopy
B) basement
C) crowbar
D) rudder
E) linchpin
E) linchpin
Clues: Since, no one saw, physical evidence, case
A successful teacher must maintain a good ________ with his or her students; they must understand and trust one another.
A) didacticism
B) deference
C) rapport
D) ingenue
E) verisimilitude
C) rapport
Clues: successful teacher, maintain, good understand and trust
When Jarmel found the Mirror of Happenstance, he could see all the moments of his day at rising and avoid those ________ that would bring him unhappiness.
A) serendipities
B) vicissitudes
C) carnivores
D) blandishments
E) probabilities
B) vicissitudes
Clues: see all moments of the day, avoid
Skipper and Brick shared ________ each other that Maggie found threatening to her marriage.
A) an ambivalence for
B) a symbiosis with
C) an affinity for
D) an animosity for
E) a bathyshpere with
C) an affinity for
Clues: each other, found threatening, marriage
Without a doubt, the ________ of his life occurred when his drug addiction caused in rapid ________ the loss of his business, his marriage, and, from an overdose, almost his life.
A) prophecy…sequence
B) nadir…succession
C) apex…confluence
D) perogee…momentum
E) stasis…episodes
B) nadir…succession
Clues: loss, business, marriage, overdose, life
The witch, instead of being a ________ crone, was a striking beauty, and Bernard thought that maybe he’d been totally misled as to the nature of the ________.
A) wizened…species
B) grotesque…genre
C) sagacious…breed
D) defaced…genus
E) unsightly…spectre
A) wizened…species
Clues: witch, instead, beauty, nature
Convinced that her children had robbed her of a career on Broadway, Sylvia began to display an open _______ toward those whom she should naturally love and nurture.
A) ambivalence
B) antipathy
C) disregard
D) neglect
E) apathy
B) antipathy
Clues: robbed her, should, love and nuture
Dr. Kolsky’s ________ manner demonstrated his wide knowledge of physics as well as metaphysical philosophy, and made him a well-respected member of the prestigious university’s faculty.
A) opulent
B) equestrian
C) respective
D) erudite
E) cantankerous
D) erudite
Clues: wide knowledge, member prestigious, faculty
Having just won the highest ________ in acting, with offers on the table for movies that paid really well and gave her a chance to work with the best directors, she was at the ________ of her career.
A) notoriety…pinnacle
B) accolade….zenith
C) bauble…nadir
D) commendation…midpoint
E) demerit…apex
B) accolade…zenith
Clues: highest, offers, paid well, best directors
Though Miquel had excellent skills in soccer, his constant boasting, _________ and other _________ behaviors convinced the coaches that he threatened team chemistry and kept him off the varsity squad.
A) harranging…mature
B) bellowing…infantile
C) bragging…competitive
D) grousing…fractious
E) bleating…amusing
D) grousing…fractious
Clues: boasting, kept him off the squad
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once ________ upon hearing his friend, Ralph Abernathy, introduce him that it was so ________ he wondered who he was talking about.
A) gesticulated…cross
B) joked…laudatory
C) punned…laborious
D) quipped…enamored
E) posited…confused
B) joked…laudatory
Clues: introduce him, wondered who he was talking about
Hester Prynne runs afoul of the ________ edict against adultery and thus is sentenced to wear the red letter.
A) pelted
B) ornery
C) proscribed
D) antiquated
E) concomitant
C) proscribed
Clues: edict
George’s natural modesty meant that all ________ he perceived as undeserved.
A) criticism
B) promises
C) platitudes
D) superlatives
E) adulation
E) adulation
Clues: modesty, undeserved
Roderick Usher, much ________ by the illness of his sister, Madeleine, retired to his room for the afternoon and returned to me at dinner somewhat ________.
A) enervated…refreshed
B) dilapidated…dismal
C) mollified…rejuvenated
D) frayed…glutted
E) anxious…fatigued
A) enervated…refreshed
Clues: illness of his sister, retired to his room
While Jared’s eyes rolled throughout the ________ movie, he wondered at the taste of his friend, Luna, as she sat dabbing her eyes at the sentimental ________.
A) maudlin…hoke
B) insipid…protagonist
C) dramatic…schlock
D) riveting…drivel
E) caustic…plot
A) maudlin…hoke
Clues: rolled his eyes, wondered at taste, dabbing her eyes, sentimental
Members of the media took immediate ________ at the use of word “legitimate” in that context, though the junior representative explained that within the context that he did not mean to insult anyone.
A) enervation
B) braggadocio
C) umbrage
D) salutation
E) somnolence
C) umbrage
Clues: many took, insult
The professor couldn’t hide his surprise that his students were so ________ toward learning beyond scoring high on the tests.
A) apathetic
B) fatalistic
C) punctilious
D) trenchant
E) myopic
A) apathetic
Clues: surprised, toward learning, beyond, tests
Theresa rescued ________ cats that she found in a small ________ outside her home, but, when she got them home, they attacked her domesticated cats and finally bolted out an open window.
A) salvage…hedge
B) dehydrated…thicket
C) famished…dale
D) feral…copse
E) endangered…arboretum
D) feral…copse
Clues: rescued, outside her home, domesticated
My boss has an annoying tendency to ________ on big decisions, which he calls “giving everything careful thought”, but it leaves the team less time to actually execute the decision.
A) ponder
B) vacillate
C) cogitate
D) pontificate
E) litigate
B) vacillate
Clues: annoying, decisions, calls “giving careful thought”, less time
With all the ________ of cancer weighing down his soul, the patient waited for the tumor to be tested to see if the growth was malignant or ________.
A) anxiety…frivolous
B) tension…trivial
C) laxity…palliative
D) fragility…threatening
E) apprehension…benign
E) apprehension…benign
Clues: cancer, weighing down, tumor, malignant
Her neighbor was so ________ a simple moment’s “hello” in the grocery could lengthen into ________ 25 minute gab session.
A) unguarded…an extended
B) noisome…a prolonged
C) loquacious…a truncated
D) garrulous…an interminable
E) contentious…an atrophied
D) garrulous…an interminable
clues - so, moment’s hello, lengthen
The spy, code-named “the Blank”, had ________ features and passed unrecognized through heavy surveillance areas.
A) hideous
B) pallid
C) disgruntled
D) nondescript
E) adamant
D) nondescript
Clues: passed unrecognized
In an age in which the rich seem to need to ________ their wealth, Warren Buffet maintains a lifestyle almost devoid of ________ trappings.
A) flaunt…affluent
B) understate…pricey
C) infuse…luxuriant
D) ply…influential
E) augment…tasteful
A) flaunt…affluent
Clues: rich, lifestyle, devoid of,
The price to buy into the condominium was fairly low, because residents were ________ by ________ service and ground management fees.
A) bilked…minuscule
B) flim-flammed…piddling
C) burdened…exorbitant
D) encumbered…measly
E) succoured…munificent
C) burdened…exorbitant
Clues: fairly low, but, fees
Benedick was sure he would be ridiculed for ________ he was in love for he had ________ for so long against marriage.
A) declaring…palavered
B) denying…bantered
C) signifying…sallied
D) proclaiming…railed
E) billowing…decried
D) proclaiming…railed
Clues: sure, be ridiculed, in love, against marriage
During the business pitch, she ________ all of the positives aspects of her firm’s service and ________ all the negative aspects.
A) accentuated…downplayed
B) emphasized…highlighted
C) glossed over…ran down
D) polished…buffed out
E) glitzed up…intensified
A) accentuated…downplayed
Clues: positive aspect’s, her, negative aspects
While other Supreme Court Justices ________ their decisions in legalese, Justice Parker wrote ________ opinions that most non-lawyers could readily understand.
A) inculcated…salient
B) couched…lucid
C) ensconced…various
D) founded…oblique
E) based…straightforward
B) couched…lucid
Clues: while others, legalese, most non-lawyers understand
The ________ between the two sisters, perhaps began long ago in some forgotten sibling ________, but it surfaced at the reading of their father’s will.
A) empathy…satiety
B) antipahty…harmony
C) acrimony…rivalry
D) aversion…cacophony
E) insipidity…rancor
C) acrimony…rivalry
Clues: between sister, surfaced, father’s will
Despite the school being hard on newbies, Charles was so _______ that he melted every cold shoulder aimed at him.
A) sedentary
B) cloistered
C) tempermental
D) caustic
E) amiable
E) amiable
Clues: despite, hard, newbies, melted cold shoulder
Don Quixote begged a ________ of the innkeeper that the host would officially knight him.
A) compensation
B) credit
C) boon
D) inquest
E) charlatan
C) boon
Clues: begged, host would
Because the conman always sounded so polite and ________ to everyone, he was able to convince them all that he could never do anything ________ with their investment money.
A) guiless…scrupulous
B) credulous…nefarious
C) amiable…advantageous
D) dubious…deceptive
E) genuine…untoward
E) genuine…untoward
Clues: because, conman, polite and, could never do, with money
Once, cellular phones were ________, but now they are so ________ one can find them in the hands of even young children.
A) rarefied…casual
B) common…prevalent
C) dormant…lively
D) dull…prominent
E) rare…ubiquitous
E) rare…ubiquitous
Clues: once, cell phones, one can find, even
By _________ billing records, the firm of Bendini, Lambert and Locke intentionally ________ their clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A) recreating…gored
B) falsifying…bilked
C) coining…mothballed
D) amalgamating…grated
E) disseminating…embezzled
B) falsifying…bilked
Clues:billing, intentionally, out of, dollars
The ________ over the new formula, which tested very well in all the sample markets, nearly destroyed the company until the _________ of the old recipe brought back many who had abandoned the brand.
A) debacle…reintroduction
B) confusion…rediscovery
C) fiasco…redressing
D) hoopla…reintegration
D) hullabaloo…reconception
A) debacle…reintroduction
Clues: new formula, nearly destroyed, old recipe
Abraham Lincoln suggested that Senator Douglass possessed a political ________ that could have only come from the devil himself.
A) aplomp
B) gumption
C) serum
D) guile
E) bedlam
D) guile
Clues: from the devil
The scene at the mine turned from apprehensive and ________ to relieved and ________, when one-by-one all thirty-three men were rescued.
A) procreative…relaxed
B) exurberant…gracious
C) chary…noncommittal
D) steadfast…overjoyed
E) expectant…jubilant
E) expectant…jubilant
Clues: at the mine, apprehensive, relieved, all were rescued
He faced his personal ________with dread, because he could either share his feelings with Stephanie and ________ his best friend, Mark, or not tell anyone and continue to suffer not eating or sleeping.
A) dilemma…denote
B) foibles…inure
C) quandary…alienate
D) opportunity…betray
E) decision…rectify
C) quandary…alienate
Clues: personal, either share feelings, and, best friend
Many green soldiers are so ________ at the first sight of battle that it is almost unimaginable that they eventually become brave ________.
A) initiated…neophytes
B) elated…warriors
C) timorous…veterans
D) verdant…specialists
E) raw…cadets
C) timorous…veterans
Clues: green, first sight of battle
Despite his campaign ________ and the pressures of his own party to end the war, Barack Obama was ________ that the mission should end honorably and acceptably.
A) position…lachrymose
B) utterances…dissuaded
C) rhetoric…adamant
D) orations…stultified
E) expenditures…resigned
C) rhetoric…adamant
Clues: despite, campaign, pressures, should
Surviving such a ______ ordeal as the fire that consumed her house, Regina was quite shaken and ________.
A) terrifying…illuminated
B) harrowing…forlorn
C) dramatic…reticent
D) fortuitous…unnerved
E) perfidious…inebriated
B) harrowing…forlorn
Clues: fire, shaken
Wallace had ________ cheese, though Grommit didn’t share his enthusiasm for fermented curd.
A) a kinship with
B) a penchant for
C) a regard for
D) a disinclination for
E) a regimen of
B) a penchant for
Clues: cheese, enthusiam
The detective didn’t rely upon ________ answers to the ________ of crimes, because he knew how often there were hidden reasons why people cross the line.
A) common…actions
B) unidimensional…indiosyncracies
C) redemptive…rationale
D) pedestrian…forensics
E) patent…motivations
E) patent…motivations
Clues: rely, hidden reasons why, cross the line
Shooting stars, which are ________ often for less than one second, are the most ________ of all attractions in the night sky.
A) exigent…momentary
B) transparent…fleeting
C) visible…transient
D) intense…emphemeral
E) present…scintallating
C) visible…transient
Clues: shooting stars, less than one second
When the financially ________ car company hired a man who had been fired for a debacle at a rival corporation, it did little to ________ the stockholder’s fears about the future.
A) brankrupt…assuage
B) posited…readjust
C) corroded…palliate
D) strapped…allay
E) solvent…shatter
D) strapped…allay
Clues: financially, had been fired, little
Sarah saw too many of her close friends transform from strong-willed and decisive to utterly ________ as soon as they had serious boyfriends.
A) compliant
B) adamant
C) flexible
D) tempermental
E) captivated
A) compliant
Clues: transform, strong-willed and decisive
Mr. Darcy declares that his temperament is ________ enough to be called ________; he said that once he has lost a good opinion of someone he has lost it forever.
A) rigid…nascent
B) optimistic…ebullient
C) discursive…regressive
D) inculcated…embedded
E) implacable…resentful
E) implacable…resentful
Clues: temperament, lost his good opinion, forever
The ________ believe that the voters are unwilling to select such ________ in foreign policy matters, suggesting that youth, character, education, and energy and no match for experience.
A) realists… an expert
B) pundits…a neophyte
C) veterans…a soldier
D) constituents…a dilettante
E) incredulous…a greenhorn
B) pundits…neophyte
Clues: the voters, unwilling, suggesting, experience
Joe’s sensible but slightly overprotective mother ________ him for not wearing his helmet and pads while skateboarding in the neighborhood.
A) exhausted
B) pressured
C) admonished
D) castigated
E) censured
C) admonished
Clues: sensible, overprotective, not wearing
News and especially rumors of violence ________ by pro-government militias ________ the situation in the square and brought about calls to abandon peaceful demonstrations.
A) committed…quelled
B) condoned…rallied
C) exculpated…intensified
D) perpetrated…exacerbated
E) mortified…degraded
D) perpetrated…exacerbated
Clues: violence, by militias, situation, abandon peaceful
Over the course of thirty years, the castle grew by ________ as the ________ could gather and shape stone enough to continue the project.
A) morsels…subjects
B) increments…masons
C) phases…artisans
D) pelts…engineers
E) design…adjuncts
B) increments…masons
Clues: thirty years, grew by, shape stone
Without a ________ of tact, the waiter pointed out the blood stain on the woman’s skirt, ________ her.
A) smidgen…gratifying
B) whiff…embarassing
C) trace…edifying
D) plethora…beleaguering
E) modicum…mortifying
E) modicum…mortifying
Clues: tact, pointed out, stain on skirt
After the incident of ________, the captain ________ the chief, who once commanded the crew of the hangar deck, to the duties of the engineer’s mate.
A) insubordination..relegated
B) incompetence…remonstrated
C) negligence…hindered
D) inebriation…reassigned
E) noncompliance…relocated
A) insubordination…relegated
Clues: once commanded the crew, mate
Tailgating in Norman on the lot before the Texas-Oklahoma game, the fans will ________ themselves with sausages, meatballs and barbeque.
A) satiate
B) irrigate
C) confuscate
D) lacerate
E) mitigate
A) satiate
Clues: tailgating, sausages, meatballs, barbeque
Darlene, reserved and demure, was the ________ to her sister Peggy, free-spirited and ________.
A) prototype…austere
B) antithesis…assertive
C) ying…humble
D) ingenue…successive
E) paragon…corpulent
B) antithesis…assertive
Clues: reserved and demure, free-spirited
Some coaches rely on praise to motivate their players and rarely ________ them for mistakes.
A) address
B) berate
C) commend
D) ostracize
E) ignore
B) berate
Clues: rely on praise, and rarely, for mistakes
Agatha Christie’s critically unsuccessful last novel that she wrote at 82 years-old is more artifact of the ________ condition of her aged mind than an entertaining mystery.
A) tasteless
B) unimaginative
C) formulaic
D) biased
E) diffuse
E) diffuse
Clues: unsuccessful novel, 82, artifact, condition of aged mind
Prof. Heath, fully ________ of the many students who were plagiarising their assignments from internet sources, ________ the cheating policy and gave a one-time amnesty to those students who confessed.
A) reliant on…tightened
B) despairing of…abrogated
C) cognizant of…reiterated
D) candescent of…abandoned
E) infuriated by…disseminated
C) cognizant of…reiterated
Clues: Prof., plagiarising their assignments, cheating policy
When the drake smelled the human scent upon her eggs, her instinct ________ her to ________ the nest completely.
A) repulsed..abandon
B) persauded…brood over
C) threatened…dismiss
D) motivated…purify
E) compelled…forsake
E) compelled…forsake
Clues: smelled human scent, instinct, the nest
Even with his voice disguised digitally, his friends all recognized him by the ________ phrases which were singularly ________ by his linguistic background.
A) idiosyncratic…convoluted
B) ornate…overlayed
C) grandeloquent…stagnated
D) rarefied…combined
E) inept…conjured
A) idiosyncratic…convoluted
Clues: Even with, voice disguised, recognized, by phrases, singularly, linquistic
The ________ traveler, was forced to take the “Bloody Pass”, so named for its many sharp curves where ________ waited for the unsuspecting.
A) canny…hooligans
B) plighted…devotees
C) ruthless…misfortune
D) hapless…highwaymen
E) craven…desolation
D) hapless…highwaymen
Clues: traveler, forced, Bloody Pass, unsuspecting
Whereas the Mississippi River is earthen brown so that its depth can only be guessed, the Meramec, a ________, is so ________ one can see clear to the bottom.
A) sustainer…transparent
B) tributary…limpid
C) rivulet…ruddy
D) brook…stagnate
E) beneficiary…diaphanous
B) tributary…limpid
Clues: whereas, earthen brown, clear
Before the funeral of the old jurist began, with the bell’s last ________, it cracked, never to be rung again.
A) till
B) vibration
C) gong
D) tine
E) knell
E) knell
Clues: funeral, bell, rung
Eventually, the food that Laura found ________ when she arrived in Indonesia soon became reasonably ________.
A) revolting…nutritious
B) exotic…repugnant
C) bland…seasoned
D) disgusting…palatable
E) gross…negligible
D) disgusting…palatable
Clues: eventually, food, became, reasonably
With the battlefield still scattered with the casualties of a week before, the already challenging atmosphere in the trenches grew poisonously ________.
A) opaque
B) noisome
C) ruddy
D) adversarial
E) diabolical
B) noisome
Clues: battlefield, causualties, trenches, poisonously
Many lenders remain ________, ignoring the call of mercy, and foreclose ruthlessly on the property of many unfortunate people.
A) stoical
B) obdurate
C) calumnious
D) impertinent
E) buttressed
B) obdurate
Clues: ignoring the call of mercy, ruthlessly
Some people believed that the American flag is ________, so they ________ a Flag Desecretion Amendment to the Constitution.
A) emblematic…opposed
B) tainted…supplanted
C) burlesque…interjected
D) credulous…supported
E) sacrosanct…advocated
D) sacrosanct…advocate
Clues: American flag, Descretion Amendment
The detective trusted none of her statements but checked every detail against eye-witnesses’ statements for ________.
A) veracity
B) security
C) humility
D) infirmity
E) consistency
A) veracity
Clues: trusted none, checked every detail
For historical fiction, ________ research will help avoid ________ content, which, if noticed, will destroy the verisimilitude and distract the audience.
A) thorough…plagaristic
B) exhaustive…trivial
C) dilatory…inaccurate
D) painstaking…anachronistic
E) fallible…detrimental
D) painstaking…anachronistic
Clues: historical, research, avoid, destroy, and distract
After the wedding, the families and guests ________ late into the night.
A) ravelled
B) caroused
C) gesticulated
D) rallied
E) catewauled
B) caroused
Clues: wedding, families, guests
The ________ defended his seat in office by ________, turning the voters away from the challenger with falsehoods.
A) veteran…intimidation
B) rascal…legerdemain
C) incumbent…calumny
D) pundit…prestidigitation
E) politician…erudition
C) incumbent…calumny
Clues: his seat in office, voters, challenger, falsehoods
With his ________ income, Bob was forced to be ________ with his money.
A) copious…parsimonious
B) slender…frugal
C) ample…generous
D) meager…effuse
E) paltry…stingy
B) slender…frugal
Clues: income, was forced, with money
Laura went from ________ about breaking up with her boyfriend to ________ reading the letter of acceptance from her “wish list” college.
A) despondency…ebullience
B) depression…melancholy
C) insurgency…elation
D) exigency…euphoria
E) pedantry…pinnacle
A) despondency…ebullience
Clues: breaking up with boyfriend, reading letter of acceptance
Once they discover her unfortunate family connections, Caroline and Louisa Bingley do everything in their power short of slander to ________ their brother’s emotional attachment to Jane Bennett.
A) cogitate
B) eliminate
C) supplicate
D) inhibit
E) denigrate
D) inhibit
Clues: unfortunate, short of slander, emotional attachment
The quarterback, who ran a dogfighting ring from his property, was convicted of the ________ crime of animal cruelty.
A) serpentine
B) insipid
C) heinous
D) arduous
E) malodorous
C) heinous
Clues: dogfighting ring, animal cruelty
The demolition expert used a ________ putty explosive for the bridge job.
A) manipulative
B) inconsistent
C) malleable
D) nebulous
E) truncated
C) malleable
Clues: demolition, putty
Pollution from the silver mine made the once ________ mountain spring no longer good for hikers to fill their canteens.
A) brackish
B) pellucid
C) bilious
D) purified
E) potable
E) potable
Clues: pollution, made once, mountain spring, no long good
Cher made several arguments to Mr. Hall regarding her marking period grade, but, being a debate teacher, he ________ them all.
A) tolerated
B) repudiated
C) ostracized
D) reiterated
E) augmented
B) repudiated
Clues: Cher, arguments, debate teacher
Gatzby ordered a new dress to ________ for the one torn at the party, but the ________ thought that piece of civility, “suspicious.”
A) amend…penitent
B) replace…innocent
C) remedy…ingrate
D) compensate…reveler
E) appease…snob
D) compensate…reveler
Clues: new dress, one torn at the party
The customer was so angered at the quality of the service, that nothing, but a full refund, would ________ him.
A) rectify
B) appease
C) satiate
D) irritate
E) appropriate
B) appease
Clues: so angered, nothing but refund,
The preacher, who staged protest demonstrations against gay marriage at funerals of Gulf War soldiers, created ________ 1st Amendment rights.
A) ambivalence about
B) irony for
C) disinterest in
D) adherence toward
E) respect for
A) ambivalence about
Clues: demonstrations, at funerals
The steady and ________ man was perfectly suited to the ________ university’s provost position.
A) stolid…rambunctious
B) impassive…unemotional
C) decorous…austere
D) accomplished…charitable
E) fetid…dignified
C) decorous…austere
Clues: steady and, perfectly suited, university’s
A sizeable portion of the British electorate ________ the public ________ for the royal family.
A) acquiesce to…applause
B) disdain…expenditures
C) equivocate for…regard
D) question…scorn
E) revile…larceny
B) disdain…expenditures
Clues: sizable portion, electorate, for royal family
The negotiations were at a standstill, mostly because the ________ client wanted a price that jeopardized the ________ of the vendor and would simply hear no argument to the contrary.
A) unwavering…motivation
B) obdurate…reputation
C) commodious…byproducts
D) intransigent…solvency
E) perspicacious…chagrin
D) intransigent…solvency
Clues: standstill, client wanted a price, hear no argument
Competitive eaters, like Billy “the Hound” Henderson, may seem ________, but, while not competing, they often have small appetites.
A) inedible
B) insatiable
C) gluttonous
D) gelatinous
E) ingratiated
B) insatiable
Clues: eaters, but, small appetites
Marcus Brutus sees the ghost of Caesar in a ________ moment that predicts the conspirator’s death at Phillipi.
A) prescient
B) languished
C) nascent
D) simultaneous
E) aggravated
A) prescient
Clues: predicts
Though the wreck was only resting on a sandbar in the rising water of the heavy rain, Huck thought of the ________ of Tom Sawyer and demanded Jim to explore it boldly with him.
A) temerity
B) vainglory
C) remedy
D) accomodations
E) station
A) temerity
Clues: Though the wreck was only resting on a sandbar in the rising water = danger, thinking of how Tom Sawyer would face danger, demanded to go into danger
Having seen a bubble or two in the markets before, Hugh allowed his ________ to guide him to responsible investments before and after the crash.
A) sanguinity
B) timidity
C) prudence
D) reputation
E) avarice
C) prudence
Clues: bubble in the market, responsible, crash
Dragged through the rose bush by the dog, the little boy had enough long ________ to make a trip to the emergency room necessary.
A) contusions
B) maledictions
C) lacerations
D) fractures
E) frescos
C) lacerations
Clues: rose bush, emergency room
Henri Poincare in his analytical paper on the “Three-Body Problem” first ________ the properties of chaotic systems in science.
A) enamored
B) codified
C) elucidated
D) promulgated
E) disseminated
C) elucidated
Clues: analytical paper, properties, chaotic systems
When Sir Walter Elliot finds his debts unmanageably high, Lady Russell and Mr. Shepherd try at first to convince him to ________ his spending.
A) eliminate
B) accelerate
C) foster
D) loosen
E) curtail
E) curtail
Clues: when, debts, high, his spending
Though the results are clearly tragic, the source of John Claggart’s ________ towards the man he destroys Melville leaves a mystery.
A) affinity
B) antagonism
C) scruples
D) piety
E) affluence
B) antagonism
Clues: tragic, destroys
Many master craftsmen of the 17th century ________ their apprentices brutally for failing to attend to work.
A) regulated
B) chided
C) mangled
D) chastised
E) instigated
D) chastised
Clues: brutally, failing to attend
Knowing that this task was enormous in ________ and complexity, the board chose the most ________ officer to head the project.
A) difficulty…tiresome
B) range…bellicose
C) detail…assiduous
D) serendipity…efficient
E) scope…diligent
E) scope…diligent
Clues: enormous, and complexity
Unlike laws of society which can be broken or changed on the ________ of those who made them, the laws of physics are ________.
A) whim…immutable
B) vascillation…permeable
C) platitudes…intransitory
D) appetites…mortified
E) inclinations…molded
A) whim…immutable
Clues: Unlike, can be broken, those who made them, constant
Due to its ________ nature, cleaning “the head” on a naval vessel remains a punishment task for a crewman’s minor ________.
A) noisome…calamity
B) odious…infraction
C) malodorous…commendation
D) unctuous…citation
E) fractious…demerit
B) odious…infraction
Clues: Due to, a punishment task
Some critics dislike the entire ________ of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, because Petruchio ________ Kate to his will, and destroys her as an interesting character.
A) pastiche…dominates
B) milieu…ossifies
C) tambor…subjugates
D) horizon…meditates
E) orthodoxy…unifies
C) tambor…subjugates
Clues: critics dislike, to his will
The infant sloth must ________ to its mother because the latter moves high in the canopy and needs both hands free.
A) plunge
B) cleave
C) linger
D) coo
E) skulk
B) cleave
Clues: infant, to its mother, moves high, needs both hands free
It is ________ the members of the African Union to speak with one voice in support of ________ goals for the continent.
A) located upon…militaristic
B) responsible for…unilateral
C) gratifying to…narcissistic
D) incumbent upon…humanitarian
E) monolithic of…altruistic
D) incumbent upon…humanitarian
Clues: to speak with one voice, goals
Charles Foster Kane built Xanadu to be his palace, but, though richly adorned, it became his ________ prison.
A) decadent
B) opulent
C) discursive
D) dank
E) vapid
B) opulent
Clues: palace, but, though richly adorned, prison
The president, to some degree, tried to wrap himself in dignity and treat the accusations of ________ as the ________ attempts by his rivals to smear him.
A) impropriety…scurrilous
B) infamy…arduous
C) larceny…reputable
D) criminality…irreproachable
E) immorality…ponderous
A) impropriety…scurrilous
Clues: wrap himself in dignity, treat, rivals, smear him
Joseph Merrick, known commonly as the “Elephant Man”, was physically ________ in appearance, but had a ________ and gentle heart.
A) repugnant…wily
B) deformed…belligerent
C) revolting…benevolent
D) monstrous…volpine
E) prestigious…humane
C) revolting…benevolent
Clues: in appearance, but, gentle
The chairman of the department noted the ________ nature of the new professor’s lectures, so he advised him to try to stay on point.
A) deft
B) predominant
C) anticlimactic
D) discursive
E) lecherous
D) discursive
Clues: stay on point
Trying to adapt to the changing marketplace was hard for the fairly ________ company that had had too much success with its enormous yearly catalogue in the past to finally decide to stop publishing it.
A) innovative
B) plaintiff
C) orthodox
D) ingenious
E) morbid
C) orthodox
Clues: trying to adapt, too much success, catalogue
Hugo’s ________ now meant that most chairs would have a fair chance to fail if he tried to sit on them.
A) bounty
B) corpulence
C) plunder
D) buttress
E) gravity
B) corpulence
Clues: most chairs, fail
The ________ nature of the occupation of the lands as it stood meant the cycle of violence would be very hard to break.
A) intractable
B) unfeasible
C) inactive
D) unallayed
E) disproportionate
A) intractable
Clues: occupation of the lands, cycle, hard to break
Madam Izzi, through her ________ senses, predicted both his winning the lottery and his ________ heart attack.
A) elevated…recent
B) paranormal…concomitant
C) imaginary…concurring
D) clairvoyant…subsequent
E) inordinate…inevitable
D) clairvoyant…subsequent
Clues: Madame, senses, predicted, both
For King Henry V, the Battle of Agincourt meant the glory of overcoming overwhelming odds to find victory, but, for the French general, Constable Charles d’Albret, it meant ________ defeat.
A) underachieving
B) ignominious
C) serious
D) exasperating
E) undeserved
B) ignominious
Clues: For Henry, glory, but for French general
The Reverend Mr. Hooper’s sermon, though his most powerful offering from the pulpit, did not meet with much ________ from the congregation who found it a little to close to the bone for ________.
A) satisfaction…dismay
B) condolence…laudation
C) felicity…comprehension
D) concern…adulation
E) approbation…congratulations
E) approbation…congratulations
Clues: sermon, powerful, did not meet, congregation, close to the bone
As soon as the product was launched, the service center got thousands of angry calls from ________ customers.
A) enamored
B) effusive
C) disgruntled
D) successful
E) nonchalant
C) disgruntled
Clues: angry calls
Going from a ________ city like San Francisco to Billings, Montana, Erica found the lack of diversity a hard adjustment.
A) heterogeneous
B) famous
C) storied
D) polluted
E) entrepreneurial
A) heterogenous
Clues: going from, to lack of diversity
Though perhaps essentially well-meaning, Penelope’s advice to his friend on how to handle a girlfriend who has a child was considered ________, and he asked her not to mention it again.
A) specious
B) spurious
C) extraneous
D) capacious
E) officious
E) officious
Clues: essentially well-meaning, advice, considered, asked her not to mention it
Though Central High School hadn’t beaten Beaumont in basketball in 16 years, the ________ response of the students when it was announced showed how much school spirit had ________ there.
A) perfunctory…waned
B) hearty…diminished
C) lackluster…increased
D) ebullient…plummeted
E) tepid…skyrocketed
A) perfunctory…waned
Clues: though, hadn’t beaten, 16 years, response, showed, school spirit
After drinking deep of the kegs of Henry Hudson, Rip Van Winkle felt the heavy call for ________ which he took under a spreading tree, only to awaken twenty-years later.
A) concentration
B) meditation
C) restitution
D) repose
E) hibernation
D) repose
Clues: drinking, kegs, awaken
Some love the performer for her ________ style, while others consider her shamelessly over-the-top.
A) modest
B) brazen
C) musical
D) euphonic
E) uncorrupted
B) brazen
Clues: Some love, shamelessly over-the-top
He felt nervous watching his daughter approach the ________ to look upon the ________.
A) valley…waterway
B) railing…artwork
C) precipice…gorge
D) fence…llamas
E) placard…battlefield
C) precipice…gorge
Clues: nervous, daughter approach
Whether he was a truly boring teacher was hard to say, but ________ students grew ________ during his period.
A) impertinent…sedate
B) alert…nubile
C) ocular…beady
D) perky…somnolent
E) dedicated…hapless
D) perky…somnolent
Clues: whether boring, but, students, grew
A successful business office usually exhibits a spirit of ________ among the employees.
A) kinetics
B) camaraderie
C) chutzpah
D) domesticity
E) paucity
B) camaraderie
Clues: successful, spirit
After insulting the client, the boss’s son was ________ to work in the mail room.
A) outcast
B) sequestered
C) billeted
D) promoted
E) consigned
E) consigned
Clues: after insulting client, mail room
The jewel heist called for a plan so ________ that it took a team of nine more than 20 hours of practice to attempt.
A) duplex
B) intimate
C) elaborate
D) covert
E) bestial
C) elaborate
Clues: heist, plan, team of nine, 20 hours of practice
The unlucky businessman flying overseas could get no sleep because of the ________ crying of the ________ baby on the lap of the woman in the seat next to him.
A) interminable…precocious
B) irritating…pacified
C) gratiating…inconsolable
D) incessant…fussy
E) intermittent…intolerable
D) incessant…fussy
Clues: unlucky, get no sleep, crying, baby
Holmes meets a village sheriff, whose ________ so ________ him that the famous detective declares that the skill of this parish lawman greatly exceeds his opportunity in such a small and quiet community.
A) acumen…annoys
B) felicity…adjures
C) perspicacity…impresses
D) incisiveness…frustrates
E) liabilities…amazes
C) perspicacity…impresses
Clues: the skill of the parish lawman, exceeds, opportunity
When his license to practice law was ________, Gerald had to start a new career again at 45.
A) deactivated
B) altered
C) revoked
D) diminished
E) denied
C) revoked
Clues: license, start a career
Placed in the record’s department where he would never be noticed, he knew his career at that company would ________.
A) percolate
B) stagnate
C) ossify
D) adjudicate
E) truncate
B) stagnate
Clues: never be noticed
Always selfish as a child, Sophie grew to be ________ by the time she reached college.
A) absessed
B) meglomanical
C) solipsistic
D) incarcerated
E) obsessed
C) solipsistic
Clues: Always selfish, grew
With a ________ hard drive and super fast processor, the average secretary’s computer is more powerful than the ones NASA used to send a man to the moon.
A) responsive
B) accelerated
C) extensive
D) elongated
E) capacious
E) capacious
Clues: hard drive, super fast
The assemblymen could see the benefits of allowing gambling on the riverboats but voiced concerns regarding the ________ increase in prostitution and drug abuse.
A) exponential
B) incremental
C) concomitant
D) surreptitious
E) provincial
C) concomitant
Clues: gambling,
One of the great ________ American history is that a slave-promoting culture clearly also demonstrated a love for freedom.
A) consistencies of
B) dissonances of
C) blemishes on
D) achievements of
E) denotations of
B) dissonances of
Clues: slave-promoting, also, love for freedom
Unlike most instructions for assembling toys, the Phosberry Company’s were so ________ that it rarely got a complaint from any costumer.
A) inscrutable
B) dictatorial
C) pellucid
D) clairvoyant
E) rectified
C) pellucid
Clues: unlike, instructions for assembling, rarely got a complaint
One of the great problems of ________ is that having a large body tends to make a person more ________, since normal activities become more challenging.
A) overeating…voracious
B) corpulence…energetic
C) rotundity…circumspect
D) obesity…sedentary
E) gluttony…ravenous
D) obesity…sedentary
Clues: large body, activites become challenging
For the inexperienced rider, the stable master chooses his most ________ animal, Beauty, to be certain that the young master had no mishaps.
A) tractable
B) amiable
C) admirable
D) spirited
E) attractive
A) tractable
Clues: young master, no mishaps
The interrogation took hours longer than it should have, but the suspect’s ________ eventually led to a full confession.
A) gesticulations
B) circumlocutions
C) languishing
D) conversions
E) affectations
B) circumlocutions
Clues: interrogation, longer, evetually
Despite his dark and often disagreeable subjects of his writings, Edgar Allan Poe had a reputation, as a young man, for being socially ________ and lively.
A) congenial
B) maladroit
C) morbid
D) convivial
E) macabre
A) congenial
Clues: despite, dark disagreeable, lively
Anne could ________ marks of jealousy on the part of Cpt. Wentworth, but he had no ________ of how she really felt toward the attentions of Mr. Elliot.
A) detail…description
B) infer…notion
C) accentuate..awareness
D) recognize…inclination
E) discern…inkling
E) discern…inkling
Clues: marks of jealousy, how she really felt
Although certainly a legendary actor, Elizabeth Taylor will be remembered most affectionately for her ________ efforts, particularly in fundraising for AIDS research.
A) omniscient
B) egocentric
C) philanthropic
D) gastronomical
E) riveting
C) philanthropic
Clues: fundraising for AIDS research
Eleanor reminds Mr. Willoughby that despite his explanation and apology, she still regards his behavior toward her sister as ________.
A) irreproachable
B) inconstant
C) fickle
D) fastidious
E) reprehensible
E) reprehensible
Clues: despite, softening his guilt
The ________ bell-hop simpered around the hotel lobby, bowing and kowtowing to all the guests.
A) immaculate
B) punctilious
C) grandeloquent
D) servile
E) officious
D) servile
Clues: bell-hop, bowing, kowtowing
Pappy O’Daniel, contradicting the insult that he lacked moral fiber, declared that he practiced ________ and high-mindedness as the foundation of his political career
A) rectitude
B) solvency
C) loftiness
D) lassitude
E) indolence
A) rectitude
Clues: contradicting, lacked moral fiber, high-mindedness
Horace Blanson was a complete ________ and sociopath and would probably commit many other crimes, but the judge was ________ by the law and could only sentence him to three years.
A) offender…hindered
B) maniac…encouraged
C) reprobate…constrained
D) delinquent…accosted
E) socialite…guided
C) reprobate…constrained
Clues: sociopath, commit many other crimes, could only sentence
“Moonlight” Graham, itching to get a true crack in the major leagues, displays considerable ________ when he finds himself at Ray Kinsella’s plate facing “Three-fingered” Brown on the mound.
A) acumen
B) compassion
C) ardor
D) psoriasis
E) prowess
C) ardor
Clues: itching to, get a crack
The late night host’s ________ humor and humbly stuttering persona belie ________ self-image.
A) sardonic…an insecure
B) ironic…a stumbling
C) self-effacing…an incongruous
D) deprecating…an arrogant
E) pompous…a narassistic
D) deprecating…an arrogant
Clues: humbly stuttering persona, self-image
The dictator had his men scan the video file for the face of the ________ who started the crowd shouting for the ruler’s ________ and would pay with her life for her seditious behavior.
A) rebel…malfeasance
B) incendiary…ouster
C) patriot…impediment
D) malcontent…sacrifice
E) dissident…reduction
B) incendiary…ouster
Clues: dictator, started the crowd shouting, pay for, outrage
