Solved Examples Set 3 (Sentence Completion)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. The show is worth seeing for the ________ of Judy Convoy’s vivacious performance, which ________ the stage whenever she appears.

   1. effervescence . . . enlivens
   2. verve . . . deforms
   3. torpor . . . dominates
   4. bravado . . . enervates
   5. sprightliness . . . muffles

   (A. effervescence . . . enlivens) The phrase vivacious performance suggests that both the missing words should suggest liveliness. Effervescence, verve, and sprightliness are all promising, but only A has a verb that also suggests vitality.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The meager ruins of the castle, which once covered 6 acres of ground, can now be of interest only to ________.

   1. antiques
   2. antiquaries
   3. reliquaries
   4. patricians
   5. histrionics

   (B. antiquaries) The context calls for a word to describe someone who might be interested in ancient ruins. Of the five choices, the only one that fits this definition is antiquaries, which refers to an expert or student of things remaining from ancient times.

7. Unlike most historians, an anthropologist may not share the conventional ________ that the written word is more ________ than a tale told by a campfire.

   1. belief . . . prolix
   2. assumption . . . authentic
   3. idea . . . incredible
   4. tenet . . . specious
   5. canon . . . interesting

   (B. assumption . . . authentic) You can assume that historians regard the written word as more certain than the fireside tale, so the second blank is probably authentic. That assumption fits well confirms the choice of B.

8. Students at Pennsylvania State University have ________ the Liberty Bell’s original tone, a ________ of four notes, E flat, F sharp, G sharp, and B flat.

   1. relegated . . . combination
   2. replicated . . . melding
   3. decanted . . . concurrence
   4. reproduced . . . disjunction
   5. intimated . . . knell

   (B. replicated . . . melding) The context suggests a word like reproduced or replicated. Given these two choices, only melding could describe the combining of the four notes.

9. Ozone in the Earth's atmosphere ________ living organisms from damaging ultraviolet radiation.

   1. protects
   2. warms
   3. reflects
   4. absorbs

   (A. protects) Ozone shields harmful ultaviolet radiation. Hence it protects living things on the earth.

10. 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.

11. 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.”

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. My wealthy aunt is more than economical; she is so ________ that she washes paper plates to be used again.

    1. affluent
    2. parsimonious
    3. indigent
    4. impoverished
    5. selfish

    (B. parsimonious) The correct answer is parsimonious. The context provides a definition for the correct choice in is more than economical. The context also suggests the trait of being excessively frugal by the word so. Choices C and D would not apply because they mean poor, and the aunt is wealthy. Choice A is not excessive. E does not fit with the example of washing paper plates.

16. Briefly popular in the ’40s, the ’60s, and the ’80s, Brazilian music is now making one of its periodic ________ into the American ________.

    1. forays . . . consciousness
    2. escapes . . . miasma
    3. appearances . . . discourse
    4. eclipses . . . scene
    5. invasions . . . liturgy

    (A. forays . . . consciousness) Forays (a brief venture), appearances, and maybe even invasions would seem to fit the first blank, but discourse and liturgy make no sense in this context, so the second noun must be consciousness.

17. 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.

18. Slovenia’s declared intention to ________ and Croatia’s decision to ________ the conference, aimed at preventing the breakup of the federation, are twin blows to Yugoslavian unity.

    1. secede . . . boycott
    2. withdraw . . . foster
    3. divide . . . consolidate
    4. recede . . . avoid
    5. patronize . . . exclude

    (A. secede . . . boycott) The two verbs must both (twin blows) indicate a divisive action. The words foster, consolidate, and patronize do not fit, but choice D is marred by the use of recede, which means to move back, not to withdraw from.

19. 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.

20. 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.

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