Solved Examples Set 2 (Sentence Completion)

1. The primary ________ of the region’s cuisine, such as beans, legumes, and pasta, provide high levels of complex carbohydrates and often ________ meat as the primary source of protein in the diet.

   1. requirements . . . supplement
   2. components . . . replace
   3. fads . . . subjoin
   4. facet . . . duplicate
   5. ingredients . . . indemnify

   (B. components . . . replace) The noun could be either B or E, but indemnify (“to compensate for a loss”) makes no sense at all, whereas replace is a reasonable choice.

2. 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.”

3. 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.

4. Despite his illness, Inzamam was ________ in winning his team.

   1. disappointing
   2. useless
   3. vigorous
   4. instrumental

   (D. instrumental) "Despite" is the key word. It leads you to predict the importance of Inzamam. Hence, the right answer choice is D.

5. ________ 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.

6. 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.

7. The writing is awkward, even ________, but the novel has nonetheless attracted a large ________.

   1. felicitous . . . following
   2. grotesque . . . vacuity
   3. elegant . . . repertoire
   4. graceful . . . audience
   5. ungainly . . . readership

   (E. ungainly . . . readership) The first word here must have a meaning like awkward, but more intense. The only choices are grotesque, B, or ungainly, E, but only E has a noun (readership) that fits the second blank.

8. The company has accused its larger rival of trying to ________ the ________ retail market in the north by offering illegal contracts to outlets in the area.

   1. control . . . bankrupt
   2. monopolize . . . lucrative
   3. annul . . . profitable
   4. corner . . . factitious
   5. divest . . . remunerative

   (B. monopolize . . . lucrative) Three of the verbs might work here (control, monopolize, or corner), but only lucrative fits a sought-after market.

9. Although they are now commercially ________, caper bushes are still found growing wild in many ________ Mediterranean areas.

   1. exported . . . fertile
   2. marketed . . . urban
   3. preempted . . . fluvial
   4. eluded . . . indigenous
   5. cultivated . . . remote

   (E. cultivated . . . remote) The first word here might be A, B, or E, but the grow wild detail seems to contrast with the first clause, suggesting that cultivated is the best of the three. Because remote also makes more sense in the context of the sentence, the best answer is E.

10. The eruption of the volcano in January was only ________ of the much larger event in March.

    1. an advent
    2. a ukase
    3. an elision
    4. a precursor
    5. a subtext

    (D. a precursor) The context calls for a noun that means predecessor, something that comes first. The best choice is precursor.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Walters and Torres ________ seven other candidates in the special election, but because neither ________ more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will have to be held for the two of them.

    1. trailed . . . captured
    2. defeated . . . recaptured
    3. out-polled . . . garnered
    4. eliminated . . . reclaimed
    5. evaded . . . achieved

    (C. out-polled . . . garnered) The sentence makes it clear that the first missing verb should indicate a success in the election, and the second should mean received. Choices A and E do not indicate a win, but recaptured in B and reclaimed in D are faulty because of the prefix re.

14. Puzzled passersby occasionally see the ________ message “Nowhere in Particular” on the destination signs of Culver City buses.

    1. minatory
    2. exclamatory
    3. enigmatic
    4. surreptitious
    5. ameliorative

    (C. enigmatic) Because the passersby are puzzled, the missing word should have some connection with this adjective. The best choice is enigmatic, a synonym of perplexing.

15. Salma's home looked as though it had been ________ from a rag bin; her expensive burner was her sole ________ of luxury.

    1. clean ... expensive
    2. computerized ... cost
    3. modernized ... symbol
    4. salvaged ... sign

    (D. salvaged ... sign) 'from a rag bin' gives the idea of "salvaged". Opposite to it is "sign" of luxury. Hence the right choice is D.

16. He ________ into the room as if he had just been ________ from a deep sleep.

    1. strode . . . ejected
    2. proceeded . . . summoned
    3. minced . . . fomented
    4. shambled . . . roused
    5. swaggered . . . awakened

    (D. shambled . . . roused) Both roused and awakened are good choices for the second blank, but the verb shamble (to shuffle) describes the gait of someone just awakened better than swaggered.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. As the controversial argument continued, the debaters became more _________ and their remarks became more ________.

    1. subdued . . . hostile
    2. vehement . . . acrimonious
    3. reticent . . . cliché
    4. affable . . . adverse
    5. emotional . . . adroit

    (B. vehement . . . acrimonious) The answer is vehement . . . acrimonious. The signal words controversial, more, and more suggest a conflict that increases or intensifies. The only pair that supports these context clues is vehement . . . acrimonious. Even if you are not certain of the definition of acrimonious, the other choices can be eliminated because none of them suggests the intensification of the controversy.

20. 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.

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