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Test your basic knowledge |
Complete Advanced Sentences
Start Test
Study First
Subjects
:
english
,
grammar
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. This alleged fiscal crisis is no crisis at all. it is based on _____ claims about financial institutions and on scare stories about impending economic ruin.
eclectic
metaphor
recluse
specious
2. With its worn-out dialogue and predictable plot - the sitcom struck me as unbearably _____.
rectify
gregarious
reserve
banal
3. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his formidable _____.
adversary
heresy
apathy
exuberance
4. The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Esther's _____ sense.
inane
proliferation
aesthetic
obdurate
5. Con artists take advantage of the _____ of inexperienced Internet users to gain access to their credit card information.
expedient
credulity
adversity
buttress
6. Because solar energy has the power to reduce greenhouse gases and increase energy efficiency - conversion to the use of solar energy may help _____ the threat of global warming.
mitigate
undermine
adversary
criterion
7. The headmaster's _____ demeanor tended to care off the more timid students - who never visited his study willingly.
exacerbate
austere
jocular
extricate
8. There is a fine line between speech that is _____ and to the point and speech so abrupt that it verges on rudeness.
elucidate
terse
satirical
heresy
9. Matilda thought it was somewhat _____ of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced. Perhaps manners were freer here in the New World.
document
furtive
mitigate
presumptuous
10. In Tibet today - the common people still _____ their traditional spiritual leader - the Dalai Lama.
venerate
pervasive
expedient
nonchalance
11. When Amanda said to the ticket scalper - 'One hundred bucks? What do you want - a pound of flesh?' she was making an _____ to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.
mollify
credulity
allusion
guile
12. Although Alfred _____ in fulfilling his duties at work - he is less conscientious about meeting his obligations at home.
scrupulous
implement
eclectic
allusion
13. Because Sal once had fallen asleep while reading War and Peace - he thought that all Russian novels were _____.
proximity
surreptitious
soporific
prudent
14. In class - she tried to stay alert and listen to the professor - but the stuffy room made her _____; she felt as if she were about to nod off.
lethargic
presumptuous
belie
sporadic
15. The classic cowboy hero is a _____ figure - someone generally described as the strong - silent type.
laconic
ironic
autonomous
extricate
16. Though Glenn was devout - he was no _____; he never tried to force his beliefs on friends.
extol
lethargic
rebuttal
zealot
17. On certain issues of principle - the senator refused to take a _____ stand - but let her conscience be her guide.
elusive
homogeneous
expedient
partisan
18. When Elizabeth realized that Darcy considered himself too good to dance with his inferiors - she took great offense at his _____.
adulation
impair
esoteric
haughtiness
19. Stories in The New York Times often include _____ allusions to obscure people and events.
induce
hypothetical
reticent
esoteric
20. Katya's _____ love of justice moved her to champion the cause of anyone she considered unfairly treated by society.
colloquial
inherent
redundant
contentious
21. The doctor assured the boy's parents that his fever would eventually _____.
volatile
incongruous
exemplary
subside
22. My Uncle Henry can out-talk any three people I know. he is the most _____ man in Cayuga County.
resigned
innocuous
whimsical
garrulous
23. Rather than live in the crowded city center - we chose to buy a house in one of the _____ suburbs ringing the metropolis.
opulence
deprecate
coercion
peripheral
24. A born storyteller - my father loved to _____ anecdotes about his early years in New York.
brevity
mollify
debilitate
recount
25. The mayfly is an _____ creature; its adult life lasts little more than a day.
prevalent
laconic
ephemeral
retract
26. Because a _____ examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson - we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more thorough investigation of the fire's cause.
gregarious
cursory
skeptic
esoteric
27. We made an _____ choice to eat at the first restaurant we saw.
profound
arbitrary
anecdote
implement
28. Every time Ermengarde made a mistake in class - she was terrified that she would receive a harsh _____ from Miss Minchin.
oblivion
assumption
disdain
reprimand
29. Youth's beauty is _____; it quickly fades with age.
contentious
extricate
transient
renounce
30. When you place a phone call from an airplane - _____ is essential; you are charged for every minute.
censure
surreptitious
skeptic
brevity
31. The Head Start program attempts to _____ prekindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter elementary school.
nurture
fervor
haughtiness
usurp
32. Although the movie star was no genius - she was sufficiently _____ to tell her true friends from the countless phonies who flattered her.
discerning
extraneous
innate
usurp
33. Othello's false friend lago uses considerable _____ to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him
undermine
recount
guile
prolific
34. What _____ did you use when you selected this essay as the prizewinner?
incongruous
discrepancy
criterion
proximity
35. In providing college scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths - Eugene Lang performed a truly _____ deed.
emulate
altruistic
rhetorical
benign
36. Please try not to include so many _____ details in your report; the bare facts are all I need.
contentious
laconic
equivocal
superfluous
37. Compared to Jo - who was perfectly ready to chat with anyone about anything - Beth was _____ about what she considered personal matters.
reticent
condone
incorrigible
mundane
38. Through the comments of the characters in his cartoon strip - Doonesbury - Gary Trudeau ridicules political corruption; his humor is _____ in nature.
succinct
satirical
redundant
fastidious
39. No wonder Ted doesn't think straight! His mind is so cluttered with _____ information that he can't concentrate on the essentials.
enhance
extraneous
abstract
vacillate
40. I am a _____ about the proposed new health plan; I want some proof that it will work.
transient
fallacious
skeptic
prolific
41. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty - her _____ stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks.
mundane
inane
malicious
skeptic
42. After medical school - the two doctors took widely _____ paths - one becoming a wealthy plastic surgeon - the other joining the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders.
reprimand
anecdote
divergent
incongruous
43. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
compliance
hyperbole
ironic
usurp
44. Some of the newer - less formal passages on the SAT have a _____ tone that is intended to make them more appealing to students.
colloquial
document
dismiss
partisan
45. After a decade of popularity - Hurston's works had fallen into _____; no one bothered to read her novels and short stories any more.
oblivion
alleviate
elucidate
delineate
46. To win his audience - the speaker used every _____ trick in the book.
equivocal
rhetorical
adversity
debunk
47. His coarse - hard-bitten exterior _____ his inner sensitivity.
recount
belie
superficial
hierarchy
48. A doting mother - Emma was more likely to praise her son's childish finger paintings than to _____ them.
partisan
banal
disparage
debilitate
49. All things change over time; nothing is _____.
immutable
innocuous
deprecate
gravity
50. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
hierarchy
exacerbate
sporadic
divergent