Solved Examples Set 3 (Sentence Completion)

1. 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.

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. 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.

4. 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.

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 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.

7. Comparing him to P.T. Barnum, Mencken called William Jennings Bryan a ________, a mountebank, a fake without shame or dignity.

   1. coward
   2. charlatan
   3. poltroon
   4. craven
   5. demigod

   (B. charlatan) The best choice will mean something like fake and mountebank. A craven, or a poltroon is a coward. A charlatan is a mountebank.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Fauzia presents herself as a bold journalist by asking people in politics the kinds of ________ questions that other reporters do not ask.

    1. controversial
    2. circumnutating
    3. abnormal
    4. irrelevant

    (A. controversial) The sentence says that Fauzia earned a reputation for herself as a journalist by asking the questions that other reporters avoided. Its mean she asks probing questions about "controversial" issues.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

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