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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. 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.
cursory
conciliatory
superficial
ephemeral
2. When you place a phone call from an airplane - _____ is essential; you are charged for every minute.
taciturn
transient
brevity
discerning
3. Because the student body at their daughter's prep school was so _____ - they decided to send her to a school that offered greater cultural diversity.
whimsical
altruistic
strident
homogeneous
4. Othello's false friend lago uses considerable _____ to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him
discerning
lethargic
disparity
guile
5. Pointing out that the candidate consistently had voted against strengthening antipollution legislation - the reporter _____ her claim that she was a fervent environmentalist.
volatile
quandary
superficial
debunk
6. On certain issues of principle - the senator refused to take a _____ stand - but let her conscience be her guide.
partisan
furtive
superficial
compliance
7. To John - who had never missed a meal - hunger was an _____ concept - one he understood only in theory.
disseminate
incorrigible
satirical
abstract
8. 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.
allusion
extraneous
venerate
mitigate
9. She kept all the receipts form her business trip in order to _____ her expenses for the Internal Revenue Service.
document
furtive
adversary
opportunist
10. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to _____ an investigation into the department's activities.
ostentatious
adulation
abstract
instigate
11. Don't just hint around that you're dissatisfied; be _____ about what's bothering you.
explicit
resolution
gregarious
ambivalence
12. 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.
belie
acclaim
autonomous
partisan
13. 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.
heresy
terse
endorse
presumptuous
14. The rich new student tried to attract friends by making an _____ display of his wealth.
juxtaposition
hyperbole
metaphor
ostentatious
15. His coarse - hard-bitten exterior _____ his inner sensitivity.
proliferation
belie
predilection
innocuous
16. A born storyteller - my father loved to _____ anecdotes about his early years in New York.
levity
predilection
recount
haughtiness
17. The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New year's Eve _____ their accepting the gig in London.
adversary
preclude
compliance
exuberance
18. The airline customer service agent tried to _____ the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.
exuberance
adversity
mollify
corroborate
19. Politicians of both the extreme right and left annoy me because they do not sound like people but parrots mindlessly repeating _____ clich
recluse
opulence
lavish
dogmatic
20. The BP oil spill has caused _____ damage to the entire Gulf Coast.
homogeneous
whimsical
indifferent
profound
21. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the _____ of countless get-rich-quick schemes.
autonomous
fallacious
fervor
proliferation
22. 'Judicial activism' is the alleged tendency of some judges to _____ the power of elected legislatures by making the law rather than merely interpreting it.
induce
emulate
usurp
venerate
23. Denying that she advocated total _____ - Katya maintained she wished only to change our government - not to destroy it utterly.
anarchy
placate
dogmatic
decorum
24. Psychoanalysts must maintain their professional _____ and stay uninvolved with their patients' personal lives.
frivolous
detachment
redundant
cryptic
25. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
exuberance
notoriety
vacillate
hyperbole
26. 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.
reserve
censure
adversity
instigate
27. The coming trip to France should provide a _____ test of the value of my conversational French class.
prudent
pragmatic
turbulent
reprove
28. Rather than live in the crowded city center - we chose to buy a house in one of the _____ suburbs ringing the metropolis.
indifferent
instigate
scrutiny
peripheral
29. Josh is such a greedy _____ that - as soon as the earthquake struck - he tripled the price of bottled water at his store.
altruistic
induce
indifferent
opportunist
30. 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.
ascetic
furtive
retract
obdurate
31. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with _____ on the last day of school.
eclectic
decorum
undermine
esoteric
32. An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively _____ and should have no ill effect on you.
innocuous
undermine
disparage
ascetic
33. The recent corruption scandals have _____ many people's faith in the city government.
inherent
transient
instigate
undermine
34. Although Alfred _____ in fulfilling his duties at work - he is less conscientious about meeting his obligations at home.
presumptuous
advocate
scrupulous
prudent
35. The governor's appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a _____ violation of the state laws against nepotism.
scrutiny
flagrant
nonchalance
extraneous
36. Flat prose and flat ginger are equally _____; both lack sparkle.
emulate
pragmatic
preclude
insipid
37. Although her early poetry was clearly _____ in nature - the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.
insipid
derivative
opportunist
affirmation
38. The museum curator placed the Eskimo-carved wooden totem pole in _____ with two contemporary stone masks from Africa - creating a stunning effect.
juxtaposition
exacerbate
implement
fervor
39. You had better _____ your accounting errors before the auditors arrive.
expedient
rectify
retract
pragmatic
40. Although the movie star was no genius - she was sufficiently _____ to tell her true friends from the countless phonies who flattered her.
discerning
adulation
notoriety
abstract
41. With its worn-out dialogue and predictable plot - the sitcom struck me as unbearably _____.
banal
cursory
feasible
predilection
42. Some of the newer - less formal passages on the SAT have a _____ tone that is intended to make them more appealing to students.
rebuttal
censure
colloquial
refute
43. The mayfly is an _____ creature; its adult life lasts little more than a day.
ephemeral
nurture
eclectic
jocular
44. 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.
furtive
lethargic
assumption
ephemeral
45. Unlike Widow Douglas - who _____ Huck's minor offenses - Miss Watson did nothing but scold.
condone
brevity
feasible
satirical
46. The Beatles expressed themselves through capricious - flip humor and _____ displays of carefree abandon.
inherent
affirmation
reprimand
whimsical
47. A radical committed to social change - Reed had no patience with the conservative views _____ in the America of his day.
prevalent
equivocal
impeccable
satirical
48. Please try not to include so many _____ details in your report; the bare facts are all I need.
superfluous
pragmatic
contentious
turbulent
49. The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Esther's _____ sense.
rhetorical
jocular
terse
aesthetic
50. Icebreakers were needed to _____ the trapped whales from the icy floes that closed them in.
extricate
incorrigible
austere
soporific