Solved Examples Set 1 (Sentence Completion)

1. The Oxford research team was afraid that sensationalized television reports of its work on paranormal phenomena would undermine its academic ________.

   1. responsibility
   2. questioning
   3. credibility
   4. freedom
   5. credulousness

   (C. credibility) The correct noun must be something that sensational television coverage would undermine in a university setting. The best choice is credibility, or believability.

2. The ________ problem of piracy has the music industry worried, because the pirates overseas are ________ by the crackdown in the United States.

   1. burgeoning . . . unabashed
   2. widespread . . . intimidated
   3. immaterial . . . incriminated
   4. minor . . . untroubled
   5. evanescent . . . undeterred

   (A. burgeoning . . . unabashed) If the problem worries the industry, it cannot be immaterial, minor, or evanescent. And if the industry is worried, the pirates still must be unabashed (unafraid) rather than intimidated by crackdowns.

3. The ________ of Darwin’s theory of evolution on Victorian religion was to create a bitter ________ of ideas and beliefs.

   1. result . . . moderation
   2. effect . . . conflict
   3. extension . . . growth
   4. origin . . . compromise
   5. influence . . . solidarity

   (B. effect . . . conflict) The answer is effect . . . conflict. A cause-and-effect relationship is set up in this sentence with a negative term required for the second blank suggested by the term bitter.

4. Alarmist newspaper stories present the pit bull terrier as ________ killer, but owners insist that the dog is friendly and ________.

   1. an invidious . . . malleable
   2. a malign . . . philanthropic
   3. a ferocious . . . docile
   4. an infamous . . . self-serving
   5. a dissolute . . . venal

   (C. a ferocious . . . docile) The first adjective will be negative (a malign or a ferocious killer), while the second must go well with friendly and describe a dog. The best choice is docile, because people do not normally describe dogs as philanthropic.

5. Rather than ________ the commuter delays, the new toll road has ________ the problems, and the traffic jams are worse than ever.

   1. minimize . . . extenuated
   2. extol . . . compounded
   3. abate . . . decimated
   4. alleviate . . . aggravated
   5. emend . . . increased

   (D. alleviate . . . aggravated) Because the traffic jams are worse, the second word must mean something like increased, so options B, D, or E are possibilities. The first word must mean something like reduce, leaving only alleviate as a right answer.

6. The company’s ________ produce new, daring, and socially relevant plays has made it the most ________, though not the most popular, theater group in the city.

   1. reluctance to . . . esoteric
   2. avidity to . . . congenial
   3. commitment to . . . provocative
   4. inability to . . . liberal
   5. eagerness to . . . regressive

   (C. commitment to . . . provocative) Both A and D are illogical. If the company did not produce new and daring plays, it would not be described as esoteric or liberal. And if it did, it would not be congenial or regressive. Only C makes sense, with provocative fitting well with the phrase though not the most popular.

7. Unless the prevailing ________ attitude toward genetically altered food is changed, the biotech industry will have little ________ to pursue research and development.

   1. rampant . . . motive
   2. auspicious . . . occasion
   3. censorious . . . disinclination
   4. negative . . . incentive
   5. unassailed . . . reason

   (D. negative . . . incentive) The missing noun must mean something like motive or reason, so you can eliminate C. To make sense, the adjective in the right choice should be derogatory, so only D (negative) is possible.

8. It is difficult to take sides with either party because both of the combatants are so ________ to ________.

   1. indifferent . . . evasion
   2. reluctant . . . compromise
   3. hostile . . . interference
   4. impenetrable . . . rhetoric
   5. averse . . . expectation

   (B. reluctant . . . compromise) The first half of the sentence presents the choice between the two combatants as difficult. Choices A, D, or E would not clarify this description. Both B and C are plausible, but because many disputing parties would object to interference, choice B is preferable.

9. The thought of a nuclear ________ sparked by a misunderstanding poses an awesome ________.

   1. device . . . reverberation
   2. holocaust . . . specter
   3. danger . . . spectacle
   4. liaison . . . probability
   5. explosion . . . calamity

   (B. holocaust . . . specter) Working from the second blank first, notice that you are looking for a word coinciding with thought. Only specter is a type of thought (something that haunts or perturbs the mind), and along with it, holocaust (destruction by fire) makes good sense.

10. The ________ songs of Irving Berlin captured the uninhibited joy and ________ verve of New York in the twenties.

    1. jaunty . . . insouciant
    2. tuneful . . . timorous
    3. cacophonous . . . careless
    4. catchy . . . lurid
    5. popular . . . flagrant

    (A. jaunty . . . insouciant) Both of these adjectives should go well with joy and verve. Though tuneful, catchy, or popular might work, only the combination of jaunty and insouciant, which means carefree, fits both needs.

11. A highly ________ player, the champion will snarl at himself and rage at the umpire with no ________ whatsoever.

    1. reticent . . . reason
    2. demonstrative . . . provocation
    3. recusant . . . excuse
    4. obstreperous . . . corroboration
    5. emotional . . . antagonism

    (B. demonstrative . . . provocation) Both B and D will fit the first blank (snarl, rage), but the word provocation (that which incites) is clearly better than corroboration (that which makes certain).

12. So ________ was the sales person's tone about the qualities of the new computer system that Najam nearly missed the ________ in its calculations in his budget.

    1. Persuasive ... flaw
    2. adopted ... accuracy
    3. harsh ... amount
    4. irritating ... greatness

    (A. Persuasive ... flaw) The sales person's tone is always "persuasive" during sales talk for the first blank and something like "flaw" for the second. Choice A is the right answer.

13. Pretending in his works to be gauche, uneducated, and ________, the real Chaucer was a sophisticated, widely read, and ________ man.

    1. provincial . . . cosmopolitan
    2. exiguous . . . vigorous
    3. avuncular . . . shrewd
    4. inept . . . dauntless
    5. incompetent . . . flaccid

    (A. provincial . . . cosmopolitan) The pattern the sentence sets up is a specific contrast between the terms in the two series. In the first series, provincial, inept, and incompetent would fit, but only A gives an opposite for the second blank: provincial versus cosmopolitan.

14. The success of the English-Spanish simulcast must be ________ to Margo Quiroz, who interprets 40 different news items in each nightly newscast.

    1. attested
    2. censured
    3. interpreted
    4. transliterated
    5. attributed

    (E. attributed) The context requires a transitive verb used with the preposition to meaning assign or ascribe. Choices B, C, and D do not fit these requirements. Choice A attested is used with to but means to certify or make clear.

15. Loyalty tests are ________ in their consequences because they distract attention from truly disloyal activities, and they ________ the criticism that true loyalty inspires.

    1. salutary . . . intimidate
    2. cautionary . . . mute
    3. pernicious . . . silence
    4. unexceptional . . . abstract
    5. perilous . . . augment

    (C. pernicious . . . silence) The first missing word must be critical of loyalty tests, such as C or E. The second word must mean something like stifle, so only B and C are possible.

16. Unfortunately, too many American actors in a Shakespeare play chop the verse into gobbets that are ________ to the audience and ________ to their own vocal chords.

    1. inscrutable . . . an expedience
    2. congenial . . . a danger
    3. galling . . . a panacea
    4. anodyne . . . an emollient
    5. incomprehensible . . . a threat

    (E. incomprehensible . . . a threat) The Unfortunately at the beginning tells us to look for words with negative denotations. Of the five choices, only E has both an adjective and a noun with meanings that are unfavorable.

17. Virginia has adopted detailed new ________ for what students should know in English, history, mathematics, and science.

    1. maxims
    2. jurisdictions
    3. benchmarks
    4. affirmations
    5. vortices

    (C. benchmarks) A word that means standards is needed here. The best choice is benchmarks, which means “standards or references from which others can be measured.”

18. Churchill was cordial to Beria when they first met, but that was the last show of ________ between them.

    1. charity
    2. enmity
    3. amiability
    4. pathology
    5. austerity

    (C. amiability) The noun here will follow from the adjective cordial. The best word is amiability, closest of the five choices to cordiality.

19. One cannot ________ to be impressed by the structural and ________ differences between the United States as a federal union in 1789 and the United States as a federal union today.

    1. refuse . . . legal
    2. stop . . . attitudinal
    3. begin . . . economic
    4. fail . . . operational
    5. start . . . classical

    (D. fail . . . operational) The best choice is fail . . . operational. The signal here is cannot ________ to be impressed, which should be a negative word, but the second choice should be a complement to structural, which is operational.

20. ________ must be distinguished from ________, which is the recognition of different categories of people without the inputing of any differences in rank.

    1. Totalitarianism . . . brotherhood
    2. Modification . . . ossification
    3. Classification . . . ramification
    4. Stratification . . . differentiation
    5. Finitude . . . infinitude

    (D. Stratification . . . differentiation) In this case, the second blank is easier to fill because it is followed by a definition. Differentiation is the recognition of different categories of people, and so on. Stratification, which does imply the differences in rank that differentiation does not, is also appropriate.

Solved Examples Set 1
Solved Examples Set 2
Solved Examples Set 3