| For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text. |
| 1 | The authors penetrating criticism of the movie was as ____ as the surgeon's scalpel.
truthful
trenchant
catty
succinct
verbose
|
| 2 | If the nail decided to ________, it would not pierce butter
brash
malinger
interdict
obscure
temperance
covet |
| 3 | After years of unchecked exploitation of its natural resources, the state, predictably has _____ the population of its native plants and animals.
stymied
decimated
increased
reduced
normalized
|
| 4 | During the Indus Valley Civilization, the _____ of material prosperity in the ancient world was reached.
simplification
stratification
majority
depth
pinnacle
|
| 5 | The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the _____.
abridgment
bibliography
commentary
epitaph
title
|
| For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text. |
| 6 | Shakespeare's _________ of Richard III is so _______ that it is difficult to imagine that the ruler had been dead for more than a century before the Bard cast him as the central character in one of his plays. |
| 7 | When listening to a medieval Gregorian chant, the listener does not encounter the composer's individual personality; _______, the chant merely ______ both the musical and religious rules of the period |
| 8 | When thrust into an unknown world, people are careful to note the conditions in which they find themselves, ______ them with their ________. |
| 9 | As the controversial argument continued, the debaters became more _____ and their remarks became more _______. |
| 10 | The discovery that exposure to allergens through the mother's diet during the last trimester could lead to complications during the first year after birth _____ the Government to _____ dietary recommendations for expecting mothers. |
| For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text. |
| 11 | Crustly and egotistical, albert A. Knopf, the publisher, wore ______ shirts from the most exclusive tailors; was a connoisseur of music,food,and wine; nurtured a garden of exotic plants; and enjoyed rare cigars. His self-assured, ______ manner, together with his insistence on the best of everything, shaped his house's image as a _____ of works of enduring value. |
| 12 | Her novel published to universal ____, her literary gifts acknowledged by the chief figures of the Harlem Renaissance, her reputation as yet ______ by envious slights, Hurston clearly was at the ____ of her career |
| Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning. |
| 13 | It was her view that the country's problems had been _______ by foreign technocrats, so that to ask for such assistance again would be counterproductive.
ameliorated
ascertained
diagnosed
exacerbated
overlooked
worsened |
| 14 | Perhaps because something in us instinctively distrusts such displays of natural fluency,some readers approach John Smith with ______.
wariness
indifference
suspicion
veneration
bewilderment
remorse |
