Sentence Completion Practice II 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 deck has tougher sentences than those in the first sentence completion deck.
While watching the tree sloths in Ecuador, the field researcher found the assignment very ________ for they moved less than 8-meters a day.
A) tragic
B) presumptious
C) tedious
D) ambrosian
E) fastidious
C) tedious
Broad context: job watching tree sloth, which moves so very little during the day. BORING.
Cell phones have ________ quickly, from simple phones to advanced smart phones, and every few years there’s a new ________ that replaces the old.
A) evolved…paradigm
B) stratified…model
C) delighted…archetype
D) mollified…ulcer
E) castigated…conundrum
A) evolved…paradigm
Clues - from simple to smart, and, new replaces the old
Charles Foster Kane, once a social ________, gradually draws back in his castillated mansion, Xanadu, and lives the life of a complete ________.
A) pariah…dilettante
B) demagogue…hermit
C) urbanite…recluse
D) sophist…philanthropist
E) philistine…meglomaniac
C) urbanite…recluse
Clues: once, social, draws back
Being ________ gold-digger, Susan viewed the financial fortunes of the two men vying for her tender attentions as most ________.
A) a strident…understated
B) an implausible…preceptible
C) a brazen…niggling
D) a fuscane…fabricated
E) an unapologetic…salient
E) an unapologetic…salient
Clues: gold-digger, difference
Though Donna was extremely attracted to Douglas, his ________ conversational style convinced her she preferred a man with a more lively personality.
A) flambouyant
B) enthralling
C) acerbic
D) vapid
E) esoteric
D) vapid
Clues: though extremely attracted, preferred more lively
Although raised with good morals in a solid Southern family, Rebecca soon became ________, exposed to the depravity of the bar scene in Wooster.
A) a liberal
B) a provocateur
C) an asp
D) a wanton
E) an altruist
D) a wanton
Clues: although good morals, exposed to depravity
With a good teacher, the ________ becomes comprehensible, while the simple becomes ________ with a bad teacher.
A) insatiable. disgestible
B) abstruse. inscrutable
C) pedantic. opaque
D) didactic. rigorous
E) erudite. eclectic
B) abstruse…inscrutable
Clues: good teacher, comprehensible, bad teacher, simple
To select the piano, Lord Aston ________ his wife’s opinion, since she had studied at the conservatory.
A) relished in
B) denigrated
C) empathized with
D) touted
E) deferred to
E) deferred to
Clues: conservatory – she knew more about music
Sen. Gearing was such a ________ politician that even his political opponents would often succumb to his powers of persuasion and support his position.
A) deft
B) resentful
C) bogus
D) compromising
E) enfranchised
A) deft
Clues: powers of persuasion
Prince Pietro’s reputation for being ________ led to his kitchen staff to prepare extra meals for him in case he declared his food inedible.
A) fastidious
B) nonchalant
C) prominent
D) egocentric
E) sycophantic
A) fastidious
Clues: extra meals, declared his food inedible
The ________ soil only needed competent management and reasonable rainfall, and it would produce enough yield for the community’s needs.
A) garish
B) impoverished
C) fecund
D) paltry
E) capacious
C) fecund
Clues: soil, produce yield
Danny went from committing petty ______ from the convenience stores in the neighborhood to finally a conviction for grand theft auto.
A) acrimony
B) larceny
C) baubles
D) sundry
E) serendipity
B) larceny
Clues: went from, finally grand theft
Dr. Walker preferred working with colleagues on an equal footing rather than working with ________ assistants who admired his abilities too much.
A) impermanent
B) interminable
C) moronic
D) obsequious
E) dependent
D) obsequious
Clues: equal footing, admired him too much
The sergeant turned every ________ duty into the most serious ________, for which, if neglected, his men would face dire punishment.
A) trifling…imperative
B) paramount…endeavor
C) incontinent…evacuation
D) sequential…hodge-podge
E) odious…circumspection
A) trifling…imperative
Clues: sergeant made every, dire punishment
The _______ of promising junior executives in the corporation caused management to seek talent from outside the company.
A) inequities
B) overabundance
C) quandary
D) foundation
E) paucity
E) paucity
Clues: seek talent from outside
With the housing market crash, ________ furor has given way to ________ inactivity, as homes remain on the market for tens of months without any offers on them.
A) investment…elated
B) spurious…depressed
C) redoubtable…acoustic
D) wagering…vacillating
E) speculative…chary
E) speculative…chary
Clues: market crash, furor, inactivity
At the ________ Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony uses such ________ language that the plebeians are moved to tears and then to riot against Marcus Brutus.
A) elegy for…billious
B) ode to…ominous
C) eulogy for…eloquent
D) tributary of…affecting
E) promenade of…articulate
C) eulogy for…eloquent
Clues: Julius Caesar, moved to tears, riot
After the drought and widespread famine, the relief workers approached a scene of horror in which few were left alive among the ________ corpses.
A) mangled
B) emaciated
C) purged
D) sanctified
E) haggard
B) emaciated
Clues: drought, famine, corpses
After being gutted by the fire, the church had to be ________, because the damage was too extensive.
A) razed
B) expurgated
C) euthanized
D) upgraded
E) renovated
A) razed
Clues: damage was too extensive
Although she feels Charlie isn’t sorry enough for what he did, Marion greets him as a ________ member of the family rather than a menacing ________.
A) obstinate…pariah
B) reclusive…heir
C) blithe…stranger
D) unrepentant…patriarch
E) recalcitrant…outsider
E) recalcitrant…outsider
Clues: Although, isn’t sorry, member of the family,
Despite ________ criticisms that presidents endure during their administrations, many have a gradual resurgence in their popularity after political life.
A) deserved
B) measured
C) scathing
D) bogus
E) austere
C) scathing
Clues: despite, criticisms, endure
In order to protect his public image, he ________ settlement terms that he considered outrageous.
A) acquiesced to
B) colluded with
C) bellowed at
D) protested over
E) advocated for
A) acquiesced to
Clues: though, outrageous, protect his image
At the castle, the ________ fields strewn with decaying corpses add to the misery of the starving inhabitants and their ________ future.
A) fertile…pessimistic
B) blasted…upbeat
C) fetid…bleak
D) barren…bombastic
E) arid…copious
C) fetid…bleak
Clues: decaying corpses, misery, poor
Certain comedies are so ________ that, though appealing at first, the material becomes flatly unamusing on the second viewing.
A) sacrosanct
B) vulgar
C) profane
D) inane
E) ribald
D) inane
Clues: comedies, appealling, flatly unamusing
The principal punished the students for their ________ behavior during exams, since everyone had been ________ told to maintain quiet in the halls.
A) odious…aggressively
B) innocuous…indirectly
C) malignant…obliviously
D) surreptitious…passively
E) obstreperous…expressly
E) obstreperous…expressly
Clues: punished, during exams, told
Blanche found the rich man she married so ________ that she despaired of ever being ________ money for travel, fashion, or refined amusements.
A) rarefied…bestowed
B) penurious…allotted
C) stingy…bereft
D) parsimonious…transfered
E) ostentatious…compensated
B) penurious…allotted
Clues: rich, despaired
The ________ desire for only locally grown organic food in the world’s food supply, thinking demographically, can only lead to hundreds of millions of starving people.
A) quixotic
B) probative
C) imaginary
D) insincere
E) insubstantial
A) quixotic
Clues: desire, thinking demographically
Dexter couldn’t wait to end the day’s work among those ________, boring suits to mingle with the ________ smiles and evening gowns of the night.
A) corpulent…enchanting
B) insignificant…enthralling
C) stodgy…winsome
D) fecund…scintallating
E) tailored…deceptive
C) stodgy…winsome
Clues: couldn’t wait, boring, smiles
When coach Herb Brooks first ________ his ________ hockey style to the 1980 USA Olympic Team, his players had no idea how he wanted them to play.
A) adumbrated…hybrid
B) related…regimented
C) unveiled…ecletic
D) deseminated…abstract
E) expounded…lacrymous
A) adumbrated…hybrid
Clues: first, style, no idea
They were forced to pledge the family farm in Marthasville as ________ for the loan to pay the legal expenses.
A) assistance
B) behemoth
C) deliberation
D) collateral
E) demarcation
D) collateral
Clues - pledge, farm, loan
The jewelry store heist was done so ________ that only the boss knew the names of the nine professional thieves involved.
A) stealthily
B) artfully
C) robustly
D) clandestinely
E) manifestly
D) clandestinely
Clues: heist, only the boss knew
The jury was given ________ time to ________ upon the verdict, so the judge declared a hung jury, and ordered a retrial.
A) inadequate…ruminate
B) ample…deliberate
C) fortunate…delineate
D) insufficient…decide
E) egotistical…ponder
B) ample…deliberate
Clues - jury, verdict, hung jury, retrial
The two men in Lee’s life were such opposites: one ________, cynical rebel, and the other a ________, optismistic placater.
A) an idealistic…billowing
B) an irrascible…gloomy
C) an acerbic…cloying
D) an acrid…partisan
E) a rippling…castigating
C) an acerbic…cloying
Clues: cynical rebel, optimistic placater
Keeping the repressive and corrupt though mildly effective dictator in charge is preferable to supporting ________ government.
A) an inchoate
B) a representitive
C) a decrepit
D) a delinquent
E) an insecure
A) an inchoate
Clues: mildly effective dictator
With numerous detentions and three suspensions on his record, the ________ boy faced the disciplinarian and principal who considered ________.
A) incarcerated…deportation
B) enamored…expurgation
C) delinquent…ossification
D) incorrigible…expulsion
E) degraded…admonishment
D) incorrigible…expulsion
Clues: numerous detentions, suspensions, principal
Generally, political independence is rewarded at the polls, because the voters seem to prefer a ________ to a wonk when it comes to decision making.
A) maverick
B) pedestrian
C) mavin
D) cog
E) neophyte
A) maverick
Clues: independence
Mr. Collins had hoped that Elizabeth would ________ her ________ opinions while visiting Lady Catherine Du Bourg who liked flattering agreement.
A) alienate…dissociative
B) litigate…inglorious
C) appreciate…ingenious
D) tolerate…august
E) suppress…pert
E) suppress…pert
Clues: flattering agreement
Due to his chronic toothache, Grandpa’s tolerance and patience toward the baby was replaced with ________.
A) reticence
B) intransigence
C) petulance
D) credence
E) hesitance
C) petulance
Clues: toothache, tolerance and patience, replaced
Once she got going on a pet peeve, it was dangerous to try to stop her in the middle of her ________ until she ran out of either breath or ________.
A) harangue…accolades
B) diatribe…admissions
C) triptych…maledictions
D) tirade…expletives
E) cascade…profanities
D) tirade…expletives
Clues: got going, pet peeve, ran out of breath
Henry V, fearful of God’s just punishment because his father ________ the throne from Richard II, falls to his knees and begs for forgiveness and deliverance.
A) usurped
B) abdicated
C) replicated
D) infiltrated
E) expurgated
A) usurped
Clues: throne from, forgiveness
Looking at the canvases spanning his whole career, anyone would see the artist underwent ________ change after his struggle with cancer.
A) an internal
B) an immutable
C) a propitious
D) an idealistic
E) an asthetic
E) an asthetic
Clues: canvases, artist
Napoleon Bonaparte ________ the Grande Armée first in an effort to invade England but shifted its focus to meet the threats of Austria and Russia.
A) aggregated
B) confusticated
C) dilated
D) interpreted
E) complicated
A) aggregated
Clues: Napoleon, Armée
Though certainly not religious like his parents, nor anti-religious like his Uncle Roy, William remained a skeptical ________.
A) atheist
B) spiritualist
C) pagan
D) agnostic
E) druid
D) agnostic
Clues: not religious, not anti-religious
The judge rendered the ________ confession inadmissible, since the record indicated that the inspector had made ________ threats against the defendant’s family.
A) airtight…deliberate
B) pressured…innocuous
C) previous…stalwart
D) coerced…veiled
E) animated…insinuated
D) coerced…veiled
Clues: judge, inadmissible
Shakespeare understood that the actors and stagecraft of his theater needed the ________ of a willing audience whose imagination made the ________ believable.
A) attention…façade
B) presence…battles
C) interpretation…farce
D) collusion…illusion
E) circumspection…plots
D) collusion…illusion
Clues: actors and stagecraft, needed, imagination, believable
At first, the new kid from Lithuania was ________ for his ________ and clothing, but, when he played soccer with the other boys, the ridicule was replaced by respect.
A) derided…accent
B) aped…dialect
C) pestered…customs
D) toasted…habits
E) chided…idioms
A) derided…accent
Clues: new kid from Lithuania
In the dusty bedroom of Emily Grearson, we found the ________ corpse of Homer Baron who had disappeared years ago.
A) horrified
B) desiccated
C) whelped
D) taciturn
E) florid
B) desiccated
Clues: corpse, years ago
The soldiers, ________ by as much as 60 pounds of gear, faced a ________ assault as they made their way through the rising tide.
A) laden…heartening
B) encumbered…withering
C) repressed…tenacious
D) tortured…lenient
E) segmented…relentless
B) encumbered…withering
Clues: soldiers, gear, assault
Farmer Hoggett was not trying to ________ the conventions by entering his pig in the sheep dog competition, though he understood why the committee felt ________.
A) countermand…elated
B) disregard…revered
C) circumvent…sanguine
D) flout…indignant
E) adhere to…slighted
D) flout…indignant
Clues: conventions, pig in sheep dog competition
Some maintain that charitable organizations were more effective at serving the ________ population than governments were.
A) apoplectic
B) indigent
C) disenfranchised
D) circumspect
E) conscripted
B) indigent
Clues: charitable organizations, serving
The farmers of Sleepy Hollow were ________ to find the boarding of a schoolmaster in their own homes ________.
A) liable…prolonged
B) credible…reassuring
C) predicted…bracing
D) undoubtedly…pragmatic
E) apt…onerous
E) apt…onerous
Clues: boarding of a schoolmaster, own
In a ________ of uncanny ________, he leafed through the book that he found on the subway bench and discovered that it contained a valid winning lottery ticket.
A) moment…surety
B) fever…prepossession
C) parcel…determination
D) stroke…serendipity
E) condition…rumination
D) stroke…serendipity
Clues: found winning lottery ticket
The student ________ that the ________ he used for art history would be equally serviceable as a murder weapon if dropped a short distance onto someone’s head.
A) quipped…tome
B) suggested…quagmire
C) mentioned…pamphlet
D) argued…bludgeon
E) reiterated…kerfuffle
A) quipped…tome
Clues: used for art history, equally serviceable, murder weapon, dropped on head
After acing the first four tests, Bradley’s ________ assured a lack of effort on the midterm, which he subsequently barely passed.
A) estuary
B) overestimation
C) speculation
D) veracity
E) complacency
E) complacency
Clues: acing tests, lack of effort
With the coming of the Dust Bowl conditions, many “Okies” who tried to make successful farms were ________ and had to ________ to California.
A) prosperous…abscond
B) impoverished…retreat
C) desitute…migrate
D) boisterous…flee
E) unscathed…hasten
C) destitute…migrate
Clue: tried to make successful farms
Many top athletes who find themselves bankrupt after retirement can attest to the ________ nature of glory.
A) rejuvenating
B) gruelling
C) ephemeral
D) dissipating
E) perspicacious
C) ephemeral
Minister Higdon showed remarkable ________ during his twenty years of indignities suffered at the hands of the Bolger family.
A) pliancy
B) forebearance
C) comeliness
D) lassitude
E) aplomb
B) forebearance
Clues: twenty years of indignities
Lady Henry decided to ________ the ________ groundskeeper, whom she always seemed to find leaning on his tools.
A) examine…histrionic
B) plunder…lackadasical
C) sack…exemplary
D) reprimand…assiduous
E) discharge…indolent
E) discharge…indolent
Clues: leaning on tools
Morgan Grant, a master of physical and psychological description, came very close to expressing the _________experience of parachuting behind enemy lines on D-Day.
A) ineffable
B) banal
C) excisable
D) elusive
E) predictable
A) ineffable
Clues: master, description, came very close, parachuting
Compared to the _________, the barely competent appears to be the deft ________.
A) decrepit…veteran
B) uninitiated…clinician
C) polemic…evaluator
D) inept…afficionado
E) sychophant…logician
D) inept…afficionado
Clues: compared to, barely competent, appears, deft
Though finally alone with Serena on whom he secretly had a crush, George acted ________ and conversed easily.
A) cantankerous
B) nonchalant
C) pompous
D) locquacious
E) timorous
B) nonchalant
Clues: though, secretly , crush, acted, conversed
Logan thought her candidate delivered an inspiring and original speech, while his opponent’s oration was ________ empty ________.
A) glutted…vissitudes
B) replete with…platitudes
C) innundated with…pedestrianisms
D) devoid of…polemics
E) shy of…conundrums
B) replete with…platitudes
Clues: inspiring and original, while, empty
Henry Miller’s book was so ________ with vulgarity and _________ that the courts declared it pornography.
A) rife…obscenity
B) complete…pecularity
C) infantile…indecency
D) juvenile…ascetics
E) decadent…rectitude
A) rife…obscenity
Clues: vulgarity, pornography
Although they were saddened by the death of their uncle Milton, the inheritance of his estate ________ their own financial crisis.
A) villified
B) capsized
C) tantalized
D) exterminated
E) ameliorated
E) ameliorated
Clues: although saddened, inheritance, financial crisis
Richard Jewel, who alerted police to evacuate the park, became a public ________ when he was falsely accused of planting the bomb.
A) hypocrite
B) anathema
C) oddity
D) specimen
E) iconoclast
B) anathema
Clues: accused of planting the bomb
With an imposing honey-drawl at his command, Lyndon Johnson could often ________ a member of Congress into voting for his legislation.
A) blandish
B) winnow
C) gestate
D) scrutinize
E) wallow
A) blandish
Clues: imposing, honey-drawl, into voting
The two sisters couldn’t be more different: one is ________ and overbearing, the other ________ and deferential.
A) malodorous…noisome
B) gauche…deliberate
C) optimistic…convivial
D) brash…diffident
E) erratic…audacious
D) brash…diffident
Clues: different, overbearing, deferential
The editor published ________ letter attacking the hate speech code and defending ________ free speech to her readers on campus.
A) a balanced…unrestricted
B) a polemic…unbridled
C) an elegant…partial
D) an equivocating…toxic
E) an extreme…curtailing
B) a polemic…unbridled
Clues: attacking, defending
The mining company soon built a reputation for, not only being hostile to unions, but also ________ both regulations and worker safety.
A) scruplous toward
B) insistant upon
C) inimical to
D) divergent of
E) disciplined about
C) inimical to
Clues: not only hostile, but also, regulations, safety
Despite the ________ appearance, the gelatin contained a colony of bacterium capable of ________ a national population.
A) disheveled…invigorating
B) compliant…threatening
C) toxic…exterminating
D) prophylactic…protecting
E) innocuous…decimating
E) innocuous…decimating
Clues: despite, appearance , bacterium, population
The cowboy offered a horse to ______ the ill-feelings created by his drunken rampage of a week before.
A) provoke
B) amplify
C) discredit
D) litigate
E) mitigate
E) mitigate
Clues: ill-feelings, rampage
A few months of ________ knitting of handsome and ________ accessories for ladies had provided Mrs. Smith with a sufficient income.
A) articulate…lucrative
B) fustian…cunning
C) meticulous…intricate
D) superfluous…fashionable
E) interminable…utilitarian
C) meticulous…intricate
Clues: knitting, accessories
I played chess and lost to a most ________ eight-year-old who told me she was doing advanced physics and calculus at her ________ school.
A) erudite…efficient
B) cerebral…efficacious
C) precocious…accelerated
D) savvy…elevated
E) imbecilic…advanced
C) precocious…accelerated
Clues: eight, physics, calculus
The ________ radio transmission lasted until the tower repairs were completed, while online streaming continued ________.
A) hiatus in…unabated
B) suspension of…terminally
C) continuation of…brazenly
D) sequestration of…predominantly
E) revitalization of…courageously
A) hiatus in…unabated
Clues: repairs, online streaming
Universities have, on occasion, been known to ________ degrees earned through academic ________.
A) confer…inferrence
B) bestow…competence
C) deny…endowments
D) ignore…malfeasance
E) rescind…fraud
E) rescind…fraud
Clues: on occasion, degrees, academic
The football player made ________ argument that he had a cheatsheet but wasn’t cheating, and it was enough to sway the administrator who was also a coach.
A) a cunning
B) an airtight
C) a prudish
D) a reflexive
E) a spurious
E) spurious
Clues: had a cheatsheet, enough to sway
Though he usually enjoyed the energy and ________ talent of high school productions, they sometimes degraded into sad ________ of the original glory.
A) raw…altitudes
B) unrefined…proclivites
C) inculcated…sham
D) burgeoning…travesties
E) nascent…allegories
D) burgeoning…travesties
Clues: enjoyed, high school productions, degraded
Hamlet reasons that, since the lands are not ________, the Polacks will never defend a wasteland.
A) blemished
B) seasoned
C) harvested
D) arable
E) contested
D) arable
Clues: will never defend, wasteland
Party politics used to require a candidate to secure the support of certain ________, like labor leaders, or newspaper editors to endorse him.
A) rivals
B) agitators
C) constituents
D) neophytes
E) creditors
C) constituents
Clues: candidates, support, labor leaders
The pitchmen ________ the approach of their competitors, which made their own campaign seem like a ________.
A) augmented…retread
B) demystified…sequel
C) disparaged…remedy
D) villified…addiction
E) varied…monolith
C) disparaged…remedy
Clues: pitchmem, competitors, own campaign
Martha refused to look at her accusers during the witch trials, claiming that she thought her victims would ________ and _________ suffering.
A) witness…endure
B) dissemble…feign
C) testify…incur
D) blandish…avoid
E) evade…deflect
B) dissemble…feign
Clues: witch trial, claiming, suffering
It showed the difference between a loyal ________ in a democracy and an obstructionist will to ________ the clear mandate of the people.
A) opposition…appease
B) dissent…thwart
C) intention…abrogate
D) misdirection…placate
E) pretense…impair
B) dissent…thwart
Clues: difference, loyal, obstructionist, mandate
The diet shake was so ________ that Inga couldn’t finish the first week’s supply.
A) toxic
B) execrable
C) tonic
D) rancid
E) palatable
B) execrable
Clues: diet, couldn’t finish
The Medical Corps has worked to streamline ________, triage, and treatment for ________ battlefield wounds.
A) ambulance…unexpected
B) diagnosis…pulminary
C) evacuation…exigent
D) ingress…countless
E) attendance…emergency
C) evacuation…exigent
Clues: triage, treatment, battlefield
When important events are happening within minutes of going to air, a TV newsroom becomes ________, almost chaotic.
A) salacious
B) maladroit
C) incendiary
D) undignified
E) frenetic
E) frenetic
Clues: chaotic
The scandal didn’t merely ________ lower officers of the organization, but it reached up into the _________ of the corporate leadership.
A) taint…elevation
B) incriminate…stratospheres
C) implicate…hierarchy
D) regress…regions
E) stained…peons
C) implicate…hierarchy
Clues: scandal, reached up, leadership
Though wrecking nothing themselves, a small group of anarchists ________ the riot that caused tens of millions of dollars of damage.
A) executed
B) subverted
C) mollified
D) compensated
E) instigated
E) instigated
Clues: wrecking nothing, anarchists, riot
With Audrey’s ________ of waning trust in her own husband’s fidelity, Abigail’s concern for her friend ________ exponentially.
A) innuendo…multiplied
B) notion…augmented
C) intimation…waxed
D) discrediting…sprouted
E) secret…compounded
C) intimation…waxed
Clues: trust, fidelity, exponentially
Entrepeneurs suffer trying to do business in a ________environment like New York or Los Angeles where one can be sued ________.
A) lawful…legally
B) legislative…easily
C) pugnacious…violently
D) belligerent…parenthetically
E) litigious…frivolously
E) litigious…frivolously
Clues: suffer to do business, sued
The path leads through saturated ground with a ________ so thick that only a rope pulled by several men could ________ a man who got stuck in it.
A) quagmire…ingress
B) swamp…disseminate
C) billow…liberate
D) morass…extricate
E) bog…verify
D) morass…extricate
Clues: saturated ground, rope, stuck
The collapse of the building produced a ________ cloud that threatened the health of the workers during rescue and cleanup efforts.
A) noxious
B) nebulous
C) unctuous
D) plausible
E) monastic
A) noxious
Clues: collapse, building, threatened the health
Because the large fan in the gymnasium wouldn’t ________, only a ________ of parents in attendance felt any relief from the heat.
A) operate…portion
B) irrigate…partition
C) rotate…sampling
D) oscillate…swath
E) ignite…shovelful
D) oscillate…swath
Clues: felt any relief
Though some hinted at ________ motives, ________, the principal excised two pages from the school newspaper out of liability concerns.
A) personal…accordingly
B) alterior…ostensibly
C) inglorious…pretensiously
D) devious…willingfully
E) shadowy…clearly
B) alterior…ostensibly
Clues: though, hinted, motives
Desmond Tutu, a man of unimpeachable ________, was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the end of Apartheid.
A) temerity
B) sobriety
C) probity
D) verisimilitude
E) quiessence
C) probity
Clues: unimpeachable, chairman, Truth
The boy’s natural _______ in art was not ________ much by trips to museums, but he learned much by searching the internet.
A) ribaldry…fostered
B) tenacity…transformed
C) taste…interrupted
D) agility…shaped
E) proclivity…nurtured
E) proclivity…nurtured
Clues: natural, in art, he learned
Shamed by personal failures Truman indulged in hedonistic pursuits, living a most ______ lifestyle among ________ associates, who drained his legacy in no time.
A) degraded…righteous
B) profligate…licentious
C) primrose…libertine
D) dissipative…swarthy
E) menial…frugal
B) profligate…licentious
Clues: hedonistic, who drained, legacy
In his book, Tom Brokaw ________ the opinion that people who faced the Great Depression and World War II in America were its ‘greatest generation’.
A) deseminated
B) ameliorated
C) proselytized
D) promulgated
E) alleviated
D) promulgated
Clues: his book, opinion
Mr. Grossmith, a functioning addict in withdrawal, seeks the ________ of his dressing room and its palliative ________ after a dismal rehearsal.
A) respite…contraband
B) comfort…stash
C) haven…mountebank
D) simplicity…medicinals
E) sanctuary…penchants
A) respite…contraband
Clues: addict, dismal rehearsal
After missing Halloween and tricks-or-treats waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Sally ________ Linus and demands immediate ________for her losses.
A) opines to…compensation
B) brays at…commutation
C) alludes to…repayment
D) bellows at…restitution
E) colludes with…nuptials
D) bellows at…restitution
Clues: missing tricks-or-treats, demands, losses
The guards at Buckingham Palace remained ________ and at attention despite tourists’ attempts at wit or ________ to bring the slightest change in their facial expressions.
A) frozen…shenanigans
B) staid…raillery
C) yoked…japes
D) terse…mischief
E) oblivious…hilarity
B) staid…raillery
Clues: guards, at attention, wit, facial expressions
Despite playing an ardent anti-war protestor in her most famous role, the actor was more ________ in her ________ toward causes she supported.
A) stultified…physiognomy
B) stoical…demeanor
C) impervious…appearance
D) placid…role
E) effervescent…intent
B) stoical…demeanor
Clues: ardent, anti-war protestor, more
After weeping uncontrollably for hours and hours at the news of her son’s sudden death, Lady Agatha’s ________ composure at the funeral showed her remarkable self-control.
A) acrid
B) desiccated
C) morbid
D) morose
E) stolid
E) stolid
Clues: weeping uncontollably, son’s death, composure, self-control
The weeks leading up to the bar exam, she suffered from doubt and ________, but, as she settled into her seat to take it, she felt confident and easy.
A) temerity
B) austerity
C) intimation
D) adulation
E) trepidation
E) trepidation
Clues: exam, doubt, but conifident, easy
It took little time for the junta to ________ all the powers that had resided in the legislature before the coup.
A) arrogate
B) stupify
C) interrogate
D) edify
E) quantify
A) arrogate
Clues: junta, powers, had resided in legislature, coup
The ________ ________ to cleanse the mind of all distracting material comforts, so that a connection to a higher power is strengthened.
A) disciple…adheres
B) meditator…circumscribes
C) botanist…undertakes
D) hedonist…attempts
E) ascetic…endeavors
E) ascetic…endeavors
Clues: cleanse the mind, material comforts
All the animals, except of course the pigs, work hard for the completion of the mill, but the ________ horse, Boxer, makes the greatest contribution to the project.
A) encumbered
B) lanquid
C) ignominious
D) assiduous
E) vainglorious
D) assiduous
Clues: work hard, greatest contribution
President Lincoln’s letter did little to ________ the grief of the woman who had lost five sons in the war, but he dutifully ________ to her the thanks of the republic.
A) appease…sanctified
B) inflame…rendered
C) mollify…inducted
D) recognize…ingratiated
E) assuage…tendered
E) assuage…tendered
Clues: grief, lost five sons in the war
The consultant gave his ________ observation of the organization’s structure and the ________ of resources, and this led to positive reforms.
A) predictable…distribution
B) incisive…depreciation
C) astute…allocation
D) brooding…paucity
E) holistic…reversal
C) astute…allocation
Clues: consultant, structure, positive
Some come to America seeking opportunity, while others come seeking ________ from _________ in their native lands.
A) haven…serendipity
B) asylum…persecution
C) sanctuary…competition
D) harbor…distemper
E) pandemonium…quietude
B) asylum…persecution
Clues: some, opportunity, seeking
Though ________ in his communications, Bertram sometimes was so ________ as to give clients the impression that he needed to get on to other business.
A) curt…attentive
B) efficacious..laconic
C) affecting…terse
D) efficient…brusque
E) alarming..pacifying
D) efficient…brusque
Clues: communications, needed to get on
Though a complete stranger at the Bastille Day soiree in Paris, Edward partied in the ________ atmosphere as though he were an old friend to everyone.
A) convivial
B) emollient
C) nonchalant
D) restive
E) contrite
A) convivial
Clues: Though, stranger, partied, as though, old friends
Instead of being angry and slamming the door in his face, Uncle Silas ________ a most ________ greeting and opened his home to him.
A) extended…arduous
B) rendered…cordial
C) performed…extemperaneous
D) retracted…extraneous
E) reiterated…unexpected
B) rendered…cordial
Clues: instead, angry, opened his home
To his surprise, the detective found several credible witnesses to ________his prime suspect’s seemingly weak ________, so he was back to square one.
A) exonerate…defense
B) invalidate…excuse
C) verify…circumstance
D) rivet…dossier
E) corroborate…alibi
E) corroborate…alibi
Clues: credible, seemingly weak, square one
Red ________ so much over the choice of ice cream that it took more than 20 minutes to serve him.
A) oscillated
B) prolonged
C) escalated
D) exacerbated
E) dithered
E) dithered
Clues: choice, 20 minutes
The DEA agent ________ the way the product was being smuggled into Laredo and devised ________ strategy.
A) parsed… an interception
B) unlocked…a contradiction
C) puzzled…an intermission
D) divined…an interdiction
E) resolved…a contraption
D) divined…interdiction
Clues: DEA agent, smuggled, strategy
Knowing that any information might help the enemy discover the identity of other ________ in the field, the agent simply refused to ________ anything.
A) aliases…unveil
B) protocols…reveal
C) procedures…uncover
D) professionals…covert
E) operatives…divulge
E) operatives…divulge
Clues: information, help enemy, in the field, agent
DNA evidence ________ Henry James after nearly 30 years of ________ in a case of misidentification and matching blood type.
A) convicted…inprisonment
B) expurgated…guilt
C) pardoned…miscarriage
D) purified…confinement
E) exonerated…incarceration
E) exonerated…incarceration
Clues: DNA evidence, after, misidentification
Promising to give evidence in court, “the Tongue” wanted his entire criminal record ________.
A) reduced
B) accentuated
C) expunged
D) edited
E) truncated
C) expunged
Clues: give evidence, entire criminal record
Her father thought that Cindy was wasting energy worrying about rumors, ________ and other ________ matters instead of concentrating on her studies.
A) chatter…weighty
B) jibberish…trivial
C) statistics…libellous
D) slanders…pertinent
E) innuendos…frivolous
E) innuendos…frivolous
Clues: wasting energy, rumors
Facing harsh weather and hidden dangers, the ________ Spanish and French explorers blazed trails into the New World.
A) disoriented
B) intimidated
C) intrepid
D) chastised
E) surmounted
C) intrepid
Clues: harsh weather, dangers, blazed trails
During the ________, police stations were ________ with calls from “eye-witnesses” to the invasion from outer space.
A) incident…discomforted
B) hoax…inundated
C) climax…awash
D) broadcast…fettered
E) infiltration…satiated
B) hoax…inundated
Clues: “eye-witnesses” invasion, outer space
Ben Hamper thought he could never be ________ the seemingly chaotic set-up of the assembly line.
A) promoted to
B) recommended for
C) fatigued by
D) welcomed into
E) inured to
E) inured
Clues: seemingly chaotic
The ________ banquet at the fundraiser was proof enough of the ________ of the Count, and Courtney knew the charitable goal would be reached.
A) meager…parsimony
B) paltry…largess
C) luxurious…panache
D) opulent…equinamity
E) lavish…munificence
E) lavish…munificence
Clues: banquet, proof, goal, reached
Tom Walker builds a grand mansion from ________ impulse, but leaves it mostly unfinished and unfurnished from his ________ to parsimony.
A) a selfish…disinclination
B) an ostentatious…propensity
C) a robust…leniency
D) an erudite…obstinancy
E) a roguish…aptness
B) an ostentatious…propensity
Clues: grand mansion, unfinished, unfurnished
We knew Aunt Delia was losing it when we heard the endless ________ she aimed at the pizza guy for taking almost an hour to bring her food.
A) compliments
B) tangents
C) inaugurations
D) invectives
E) implications
D) invectives
Clues: losing it, pizza guy late
Preferring a dynamic and controversial writer, the editor-in-chief promoted the somewhat lax ________ over the more qualified and accurate, but more ________, reporter.
A) entrepeneur…pedestrian
B) ingenue…banal
C) savant…parochial
D) provocateur…prosaic
E) gourmand…naive
D) provocateur…prosaic
Clues: dynamic and controversial
Frank Abagnale, Jr., was a ________ adolescent who passed himself off convincingly as a doctor, a pilot, and a lawyer among others, and showed his genius for reinventing himself.
A) doppelganger
B) nemesis
C) protean
D) diaphanous
E) narcissist
C) protean
Clues: passed himself off, doctor, pilot, lawyer, reinventing himself
Though clearly not the strongest man in the ring, Carl “the Cobra” Connors intimidated his larger opponents with his ________ based on speed and versatility of attack.
A) cachet
B) prowess
C) cadre
D) largess
E) posse
B) prowess
Clues: intimidated, speed, versatility
Always a ________, the author expected his book to be panned, not ________ as it was, but apparently something about his story stimulated enthusiasm among the readers and critics.
A) cynic…excoriated
B) realist…lauded
C) purest…extolled
D) sensualist…ignored
E) pessimist…rhapsodized
E) pessimist…rhapsodized
Clues: expected, panned, enthusiasm
The critic wondered at the editing of the movie, since it was long with several ________ scenes that only delayed the story’s progress.
A) fabulous
B) tight
C) superfluous
D) posthumous
E) adroit
C) superfluous
Clues: long, delayed, progress
With a sudden ________ in his ribs, Lewis ________ his speech enough to confuse and alarm his audience.
A) stitch…truncated
B) wrench…averted
C) stab…abridged
D) needle…pruned
E) dagger…massaged
A) stitch…truncated
Clues: sudden, ribs, confuse and alarm
Though mentally now fully alert, Bea was so weak from the ________ of the coma that she could not use her spider-thin legs.
A) fatigue
B) atrophy
C) nausea
D) jitters
E) ossification
B) atrophy
Clues: coma, spider-thin
“William Thompson”, Tom’s alter ego of the moment, shocks Aunt Sally with ________ kiss, and then is ________ that she should have found it so impertinent.
A) a passionate..irked
B) a bellicose…amazed
C) a cloistered…flabbergasted
D) an audacious…astonished
E) a supercilious…amused
D) audacious…astonished
Clues: shocks, Aunt, kiss on the mouth, impertinent
Once stimulated by the disguised devil’s offer of easy money, Pahom’s ________ began to dominate his thinking and alienate him from his friends.
A) gluttony
B) sloth
C) avarice
D) mores
E) rheumatism
C) avarice
Clues: devil’s, easy money, alienate
While repairing the header, the carpenters ________ the ceiling by wedging eight two-by-fours under it.
A) imposed
B) propagated
C) blandished
D) pilloried
E) buttressed
E) buttressed
Clues: repairing, carpenter, wedging
Several important communist hardliners led a ________ against Mikhail Gorbachev’s ________ in August of 1989, holding him under house arrest for almost three days.
A) revolt…disciples
B) rebellion…policies
C) mutiny…vessel
D) coup…regime
E) insurrection…loyalists
D) coup…regime
Clues: several, hardliners, house arrest
Otis had so little that it was no surprise that he found so many things to ________ that others possessed.
A) filibuster
B) mangle
C) yoke
D) evoke
E) covet
E) covet
Clues: had so little, no surprise, others possessed
The dwarves’ ________, bordering on senselessness, urged them to enter the dragon’s lair without a plan to destroy the fearful guardian for the sake of its costly bed of treasure.
A) grudge
B) cupidity
C) laxity
D) canniness
E) levity
B) cupidity
Clues: bordering on senseless, for the sake, costly
The union members were only given time for a ________ review of the collective bargaining agreement before the vote was called.
A) perusing
B) luxuriant
C) cursory
D) holistic
E) comprehensive
C) cursory
Clues: only given time, review
The volcano, which hadn’t erupted for 700 years, lay ________, but the scientists knew that like a sleeping dragon it could suddenly activate and bring ________ to the communities near it.
A) fallow..calamity
B) dormant…devastation
C) inert…misfortune
D) exigent…disaster
E) curdled…mishap
B) dormant…devastation
Clues: hadn’t erupted for, sleeping dragon
The ________ police detective dampened the party atmosphere in the hall, as he asked questions regarding the whereabouts of the absent ________.
A) turgid…culprits
B) biased…suspects
C) legendary…evidence
D) misogynistic…roustabouts
E) dour…revellers
E) dour…revellers
Clues: dampened the party, absent
With the bloody revolt falling apart internally, it becomes necessary to find the ________ members of the ________ royal family to restore the monarchy.
A) leftover…threatened
B) misplaced…exiled
C) scattered…verifiable
D) extant…decimated
E) cloistered…partial
D) extant…decimated
Clues: bloody revolt, restore the monarchy
The mermaid could not hope to ________ herself from the fishing net.
A) exigent
B) extricate
C) rectify
D) explicate
E) expound
B) extricate
Clues: mermaid, fishing net
Jerry and Courtney’s “loony” cat was so ________ it would go from gentle purring to ________ its rear claws into your thighs without provocation.
A) noisome…goring
B) didactic…skewering
C) pedantic…digging
D) irascible…gouging
E) moody…molding
D) irascible…gouging
Clues: loony, from gentle purring, rear claws
While many are repulsed by the ________ details of the serial killer’s story, others are fascinated by the ________ of torture and dismemberment.
A) graphic…residue
B) sordid…vestiges
C) heartening…pathos
D) pungent…facilities
E) lurid…minutiae
E) lurid…minutiae
Clues: repulsed, killer’s, fascinated, torture
Carrie quickly goes from being a ________ in her new school to the subject of ________ within days of saying grace on her knees before lunch in the cafeteria.
A) kudo…derision
B) curio…ostracism
C) tomboy…ridicule
D) neophyte…admonition
E) fanatic…confabulation
B) curio…ostracism
Clues: goes from, saying grace on her knees
Paul’s mother found an address for a ________ website on her son’s laptop and ________ to confront him and deny him access to the internet while alone.
A) salacious…exaggerated
B) ribald…conspired
C) prurient…resolved
D) bawdy…alluded
E) debauched…forebore
C) prurient…resolved
Clues: website, access to the internet
Terry Gilliam searched Hollywood for a young actress of the right ________ to play the Roman goddess of love to recreate the vision of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
A) proportions
B) pulchritude
C) gradation
D) impiety
E) preponderance
B) pulchritude
Clues: goddess of love, recreate, vision
The Betties, a group of rich ne’er-do-wells, simply detested the ________ fools, as they called them, who volunteered to monitor the halls at school.
A) clandestine
B) opulent
C) sordid
D) ingracious
E) punctilious
E) punctilious
Clues: monitor the halls
Not wanting to create an expectation for absolute ________ among its customers nor to help cause a greater ________ problem, the restaurant substituted the “All-You-Can-Eat Buffet” with the “All-You-Care-To-Eat Buffet.”
A) surfeit…obesity
B) gorgeousness…gluttony
C) satiety…copacetic
D) aversion…corporeality
E) nourishment…deletorious
A) surfeit…obesity
Clues: All-You-Can-Eat
