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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. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the _____ of countless get-rich-quick schemes.
prevalent
gregarious
terse
proliferation
2. The boss prefaced his speech by telling a pointless _____ about an encounter he'd had with former President Bush.
anecdote
delineate
succinct
heresy
3. The costume designer _____ the leading lady's ball gown with yards and yards of ribbon and lace.
adversity
embellish
acclaim
predilection
4. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
hyperbole
opportunist
renounce
soporific
5. The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to _____ his weak case.
buttress
succinct
expedient
document
6. When you place a phone call from an airplane - _____ is essential; you are charged for every minute.
assumption
brevity
elucidate
incorrigible
7. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with _____ on the last day of school.
anecdote
ostentatious
feasible
decorum
8. Because Ann felt no desire to marry - she was _____ to Carl's constant proposals.
indifferent
belie
taciturn
constraint
9. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to _____ an investigation into the department's activities.
endorse
instigate
exemplary
venerate
10. According to Sherlock Homes - the very point that appears to complicate a case - when duly considered and scientifically handled - is the one most likely to _____ it.
document
apathy
eclectic
elucidate
11. Icebreakers were needed to _____ the trapped whales from the icy floes that closed them in.
garrulous
debilitate
lavish
extricate
12. Thirty years after the war - she could not let go of the past but was still consumed with _____ against the foe.
instigate
profound
metaphor
rancor
13. A born storyteller - my father loved to _____ anecdotes about his early years in New York.
derision
aesthetic
meticulous
recount
14. 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.
presumptuous
mundane
subside
satirical
15. The president _____ the astronauts - whom he called 'the pioneers of the Space Age.'
credulity
hierarchy
interpid
extol
16. Historically - traders and missionaries often proved themselves to be _____ explorers - bravely venturing into new territories despite the dangers involved.
anecdote
interpid
strident
exemplary
17. Disappointed in love - Miss Emily became a _____; she shut herself away in her empty mansion and refused to see another living soul.
recluse
malicious
compliance
rancor
18. 'Any publicity is good publicity - 'said the starlet. 'If I can't have a good reputation - I'll settle for _____.'
fallacious
autonomous
levity
notoriety
19. The special prosecutor determined that the attorney general - though inept - had not intentionally set out to _____ the progress of the investigation.
reprove
exacerbate
constraint
impede
20. Although some girls were attracted by Mark's air of _____ - Judy was put off by it - for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness.
autonomous
reserve
peripheral
delineate
21. What _____ did you use when you selected this essay as the prizewinner?
reprimand
criterion
ambiguous
ascetic
22. To John - who had never missed a meal - hunger was an _____ concept - one he understood only in theory.
reprimand
mundane
abstract
dismiss
23. Typically - partygoers are _____; hermits are not.
enhance
extraneous
gregarious
criterion
24. The inquisitors used both physical and psychological _____ to force Joan of Arc to deny that her visions were sent by God.
taciturn
rebuttal
advocate
coercion
25. I was bowled over by the _____ of Amy's welcome. What an enthusiastic greeting!
turbulent
allusion
exuberance
compliance
26. The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case - sure that she could answer his arguments in her _____.
indifferent
eclectic
censure
rebuttal
27. Don't bore your audience with excess verbiage; be _____.
prevalent
subside
succinct
lavish
28. The wealthy - self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict - _____ lifestyle practiced by members of some monastic orders.
ascetic
disseminate
fastidious
juxtaposition
29. Warned of _____ weather conditions ahead - the pilot told the passengers to fasten their seat belts.
turbulent
hyperbole
subside
ambiguous
30. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty - her _____ stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks.
malicious
assumption
immutable
cursory
31. Covering the Olympic Games - the sportscasters _____ every American victory and grumbled about every American defeat.
resolution
cryptic
guile
acclaim
32. She kept all the receipts form her business trip in order to _____ her expenses for the Internal Revenue Service.
delineate
adulation
document
capricious
33. A doting mother - Emma was more likely to praise her son's childish finger paintings than to _____ them.
buttress
disparage
debilitate
mundane
34. When you send a message on Twitter - be _____; a tweet cannot be more than 140 characters long.
vacillate
frivolous
anecdote
concise
35. His coarse - hard-bitten exterior _____ his inner sensitivity.
belie
incite
austere
substantiate
36. Although defeat appeared inevitable - the general was _____ in his refusal to surrender.
insipid
peripheral
enhance
obdurate
37. Looking for any inconsistency in the testimony that might exonerate his client - the defense lawyer pounced on a _____ between the two witnesses' versions of what had occurred.
presumptuous
discrepancy
substantiate
nurture
38. Every time Ermengarde made a mistake in class - she was terrified that she would receive a harsh _____ from Miss Minchin.
scrupulous
ambiguous
reprimand
allusion
39. When I saw how Fred and his fraternity brothers had trashed the frat house - I decided to _____ my offer to let them use our summer cottage over spring break.
cursory
preclude
impede
retract
40. The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to _____ the lying testimony of the prosecution's sole witness.
erudite
inane
decorum
refute
41. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his formidable _____.
vacillate
delineate
adversary
nonchalance
42. Because she was a firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy - Miss Post _____ the modern tendency to address new acquaintances by their first names.
taciturn
resolution
deprecate
opportunist
43. At the protest rally - the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal _____.
nurture
inherent
reserve
fervor
44. Even though she knew she would be burned at the stake as a witch - Joan of Arc refused to _____ her belief that her voices came from God.
disseminate
garrulous
impede
renounce
45. The governor's appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a _____ violation of the state laws against nepotism.
flagrant
sporadic
frivolous
turbulent
46. Everyone waited to see which one of the rival candidates for city council the mayor would _____.
concise
disparity
mollify
endorse
47. Although Nancy enjoyed Bill's _____ - lighthearted companionship - she sometimes wondered whether he could ever be serious.
frivolous
vacillate
extraneous
affirmation
48. Though his fellow students considered him a gifted scholar - Paul knew he would have to spend many years in serious study before he could consider himself truly _____.
erudite
autonomous
malicious
ascetic
49. After the quarrel - Gina said nothing could _____ her to talk to Pedro again.
elucidate
dogmatic
induce
astute
50. You can _____ your chances of being admitted to the college of your choice by learning to write well.
obdurate
feasible
refute
enhance