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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. To revise a textbook properly - you must do more than make a few _____ changes to the manuscript.
satirical
fallacious
mundane
superficial
2. The governor's appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a _____ violation of the state laws against nepotism.
flagrant
immutable
relegate
ambiguous
3. The wealthy - self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict - _____ lifestyle practiced by members of some monastic orders.
elusive
equivocal
detachment
ascetic
4. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty - her _____ stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks.
elusive
malicious
mundane
resigned
5. Although her _____ smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem to be a sweet little old lady - in reality she was a tough-minded - shrewd observer of human nature.
benign
metaphor
fallacious
malicious
6. Although Nancy enjoyed Bill's _____ - lighthearted companionship - she sometimes wondered whether he could ever be serious.
debunk
resolution
frivolous
placate
7. There is a fine line between speech that is _____ and to the point and speech so abrupt that it verges on rudeness.
instigate
guile
feasible
terse
8. To win his audience - the speaker used every _____ trick in the book.
hierarchy
rhetorical
undermine
advocate
9. Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state university system - in many ways - Cal Berkeley is _____ - for it runs several programs that are not subject to state control.
strident
placate
superfluous
autonomous
10. The mayfly is an _____ creature; its adult life lasts little more than a day.
lethargic
presumptuous
ephemeral
disseminate
11. Although Alfred _____ in fulfilling his duties at work - he is less conscientious about meeting his obligations at home.
ostentatious
ambiguous
scrupulous
brevity
12. Violently disagreeing with the referees' ruling - Coach Ben became so _____ that they threw him out of the game.
reprove
resigned
contentious
levity
13. Torn between loving her parents one minute and hating them the next - she was confused by the _____ of her feelings.
anecdote
implement
ambivalence
guile
14. At the protest rally - the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal _____.
fervor
indifferent
buttress
acclaim
15. Galileo's assertion that the earth moved around the sun directly contradicted the religious teachings of his day; as a result - he was tried for _____.
soporific
heresy
subside
instigate
16. The airline customer service agent tried to _____ the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.
eulogy
lethargic
mollify
retract
17. Using only a few descriptive phrases - Austen manages to _____ the character of Mr. Collins so deftly that we can predict his every move.
criterion
mitigate
delineate
profane
18. The costume designer _____ the leading lady's ball gown with yards and yards of ribbon and lace.
mollify
whimsical
divergent
embellish
19. The boss prefaced his speech by telling a pointless _____ about an encounter he'd had with former President Bush.
innocuous
apathy
anecdote
lethargic
20. Is an old-fashioned hairstyle an apt _____ for being out of step with the times and in need of change?
metaphor
lavish
renounce
specious
21. The doctor assured the boy's parents that his fever would eventually _____.
allusion
prolific
subside
interpid
22. In the film Funny Face - the bookish heroine _____ fashion models for their lack of intellectual interests.
malicious
conciliatory
strident
disdain
23. Despite airing her clothes for several hours - she could not rid them of the _____ odor of mothballs that clung to them.
hypothetical
pervasive
vacillate
immutable
24. Tina was still angry despite Tony's soft and _____ words.
conciliatory
feasible
profane
notoriety
25. The winter storm was ______; it changed course constantly.
derision
aesthetic
constraint
capricious
26. In Tibet today - the common people still _____ their traditional spiritual leader - the Dalai Lama.
venerate
vacillate
inane
taciturn
27. Shrewdly purchasing valuable plots of land for small sums - John Jacob Astor gained a reputation as an _____ investor.
astute
debunk
fastidious
ambiguous
28. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his formidable _____.
astute
adulation
adversary
interpid
29. By their use of the Internet - propagandists have been able to _____ their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe.
disseminate
soporific
belie
implement
30. Denying that she advocated total _____ - Katya maintained she wished only to change our government - not to destroy it utterly.
anarchy
extol
oblivion
condone
31. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with _____ on the last day of school.
disdain
succinct
decorum
profane
32. After medical school - the two doctors took widely _____ paths - one becoming a wealthy plastic surgeon - the other joining the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders.
relegate
laconic
reprove
divergent
33. After separating from Tony - Tina announced that she would _____ all debts incurred by her soon-to-be-ex-husband.
refute
transient
repudiate
extraneous
34. Don't just hint around that you're dissatisfied; be _____ about what's bothering you.
explicit
subside
specious
incite
35. After a decade of popularity - Hurston's works had fallen into _____; no one bothered to read her novels and short stories any more.
impede
oblivion
rectify
whimsical
36. A pragmatic politician - he was guided more by what was _____ than by what was right.
expedient
rhetorical
usurp
coercion
37. 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.
reprimand
advocate
mitigate
relegate
38. Don't bore your audience with excess verbiage; be _____.
censure
succinct
abridge
innocuous
39. Cool - calm - and collected - James Bond shows remarkable _____ in the face of danger.
nonchalance
terse
refute
equivocal
40. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
fallacious
undermine
hierarchy
capricious
41. Politicians of both the extreme right and left annoy me because they do not sound like people but parrots mindlessly repeating _____ clich
dogmatic
debunk
flagrant
cursory
42. 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 _____.
furtive
erudite
profound
disdain
43. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to _____ an investigation into the department's activities.
venerate
mollify
superficial
instigate
44. Othello's false friend lago uses considerable _____ to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him
ambiguous
guile
levity
proximity
45. My editors must assume I'm a _____ writer; they expect me to revise six books this year.
arbitrary
disdain
exacerbate
prolific
46. The bottle of wine I brought to Sharon's party was certainly _____: how was I to know that Sharon owned a winery?
belie
redundant
nurture
profound
47. Psychoanalysts must maintain their professional _____ and stay uninvolved with their patients' personal lives.
satirical
inherent
detachment
assumption
48. Pointing out that the candidate consistently had voted against strengthening antipollution legislation - the reporter _____ her claim that she was a fervent environmentalist.
scrupulous
debunk
elusive
abridge
49. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the _____ of countless get-rich-quick schemes.
proliferation
eulogy
sporadic
dismiss
50. Suppose you are accepted by Harvard - Stanford - and Yale. Which one would you attend? Remember - this is only a _____ situation.
satirical
esoteric
meticulous
hypothetical