Solved Examples Set 2 (Sentence Completion)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Ignoring the increasing cloudiness and the ________ rumblings in the sky, they opened the picnic basket on the shore of the lake.

   1. ominous
   2. blithe
   3. monetary
   4. arduous
   5. auspicious

   (A. ominous) The context suggests an approaching storm, so the missing word must mean something like threatening, a good definition of ominous. Another word for threatening is minatory, not monetary.

4. 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.

5. America at Sea is a one-volume ________ history that covers the nation’s military and commercial activities.

   1. aquatic
   2. ancient
   3. meretricious
   4. theological
   5. maritime

   (E. maritime) The title tells us the book is about the American sea history; the logical choice is maritime, which means “of the sea.”

6. 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.”

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Unless the environmentalists can draft a more ________ proposal, the courts will disallow their proposition as too vague.

    1. legal
    2. restrictive
    3. encompassing
    4. specific
    5. ecological

    (D. specific) The missing adjective is defined as the opposite of too vague by the completed sentence. Though B is possible, the best choice is more specific. Restrictive means limiting or tending to restrict, but the context calls for specific, that is, explicit or definite.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. Some historians contend that the ________ Germany was forced to pay after World War I ________ made possible the rise of Nazism.

    1. restorations . . . indefinitely
    2. recriminations . . . finally
    3. expenditures . . . gratuitously
    4. reparations . . . ultimately
    5. disbursements . . . immediately

    (D. reparations . . . ultimately) The first noun must mean something like payments. Only reparations fits exactly, and ultimately makes more sense than the four other adverbs.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Time and time again, the power of the mob in Chicago appears to have been annihilated, but it has always ________ itself.

    1. reappeared
    2. eliminated
    3. returned
    4. regenerated
    5. exhumed

    (D. regenerated) The but indicates the power has not been annihilated, so the verb that is missing must indicate a rebirth and be used with itself. A and C are not used with the pronoun; B has the opposite of the required meaning; and though E is possible, D is clearer.

20. 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.

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