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. That so shameless, sentimental, and dishonest a film attracts a large and enthusiastic audience is ________ of how low the popular taste has ________.

   1. an indication . . . soared
   2. a gauge . . . refined
   3. a signatory . . . fallen
   4. a refutation . . . descended
   5. a barometer . . . plummeted

   (E. a barometer . . . plummeted) The word low tells us the second word must be fallen, descended, or plummeted. The words indication, gauge, or barometer fit the first blank, so the right choice must be E.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.”

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Truman tried to continue Roosevelt’s ________ approach to the Soviet Union, but by 1946, he had adopted a much tougher policy toward the Russians.

    1. cursory
    2. strict
    3. obligatory
    4. uncompromising
    5. conciliatory

    (E. conciliatory) The correct answer is conciliatory. The sentence sets up a contrast situation with the word but. Truman tried to do something but ended up adopting a tougher policy. Conciliatory is the only choice that suggests a previously weaker approach.

14. 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.

15. ________ 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.

16. Though it lasted only half an hour, the ponderous lecture seemed ________ to most of the students.

    1. interminable
    2. cabalistic
    3. waggish
    4. vendible
    5. expressive

    (A. interminable) The clues of though it lasted only half an hour and ponderous point here only to interminable or endless.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.”

20. 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.

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