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
