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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. Con artists take advantage of the _____ of inexperienced Internet users to gain access to their credit card information.
credulity
retract
ephemeral
compliance
2. An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively _____ and should have no ill effect on you.
emulate
meticulous
innocuous
flagrant
3. The store manager tried to _____ the angry customer by offering to replace the damaged merchandise or return her money.
inane
renounce
placate
ephemeral
4. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with _____ on the last day of school.
decorum
pervasive
digression
incongruous
5. In a fiery speech - Mario _____ his fellow students to go out on strike to protest the university's anti-affirmative action stand.
incite
undermine
disdain
derision
6. We made an _____ choice to eat at the first restaurant we saw.
proximity
fastidious
arbitrary
superfluous
7. Othello's false friend lago uses considerable _____ to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him
retract
guile
banal
obdurate
8. The infant Mozart's parents quickly realized that their son had an _____ gift for music.
surreptitious
banal
obdurate
innate
9. I was bowled over by the _____ of Amy's welcome. What an enthusiastic greeting!
laconic
autonomous
disdain
exuberance
10. The senator was _____ for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress.
censure
terse
ambivalence
astute
11. Noticing the _____ glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter - the clerk wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter in the store.
repudiate
credulity
furtive
profound
12. Whenever Sue was angry - she tried to avoid raising her voice because she had no wish to sound _____.
insipid
strident
impeccable
repudiate
13. Pointing out that the candidate consistently had voted against strengthening antipollution legislation - the reporter _____ her claim that she was a fervent environmentalist.
mundane
recount
debunk
juxtaposition
14. Icebreakers were needed to _____ the trapped whales from the icy floes that closed them in.
extricate
autonomous
indifferent
gravity
15. 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.
guile
strident
gregarious
autonomous
16. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
banal
reticent
hierarchy
indifferent
17. Is an old-fashioned hairstyle an apt _____ for being out of step with the times and in need of change?
gravity
metaphor
censure
rancor
18. Covering the Olympic Games - the sportscasters _____ every American victory and grumbled about every American defeat.
elucidate
inane
placate
acclaim
19. The coming trip to France should provide a _____ test of the value of my conversational French class.
presumptuous
pragmatic
whimsical
nonchalance
20. Katya's _____ love of justice moved her to champion the cause of anyone she considered unfairly treated by society.
interpid
inherent
transient
metaphor
21. Although Georgia O'Keeffe painted subjects over the years - she had a definite _____ for painting flowers.
taciturn
nurture
profane
predilection
22. The glitter and _____ of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away.
rhetorical
opulence
whimsical
affirmation
23. Although Alfred _____ in fulfilling his duties at work - he is less conscientious about meeting his obligations at home.
rectify
colloquial
skeptic
scrupulous
24. The boss prefaced his speech by telling a pointless _____ about an encounter he'd had with former President Bush.
deprecate
extol
anecdote
exuberance
25. Rejecting the candidate's _____ comments on tax reform - the reporter pressed him to state clearly where he stood on the issue.
derision
metaphor
equivocal
compliance
26. Dirt poor and out of work - she did not give up but continued to fight against _____.
adversity
document
refute
quandary
27. A radical committed to social change - Reed had no patience with the conservative views _____ in the America of his day.
impair
notoriety
mitigate
prevalent
28. Thoroughly baffled by Holmes's _____ remarks - Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime.
cryptic
deprecate
inadvertently
allusion
29. There is a fine line between speech that is _____ and to the point and speech so abrupt that it verges on rudeness.
terse
embellish
prevalent
scrutiny
30. Despite airing her clothes for several hours - she could not rid them of the _____ odor of mothballs that clung to them.
abridge
insipid
pervasive
predilection
31. It is _____ that his success came when he least wanted it.
soporific
ironic
resolution
metaphor
32. 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.
abstract
renounce
furtive
discrepancy
33. 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.
corroborate
compliance
reserve
colloquial
34. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his formidable _____.
repudiate
adversary
belie
eclectic
35. To revise a textbook properly - you must do more than make a few _____ changes to the manuscript.
arbitrary
usurp
superficial
interpid
36. 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
derision
instigate
fervor
37. The reviewers heaped _____ on the novice playwright - ridiculing his pretentious dialogue - flat characters - and simple-minded plot.
disseminate
derision
terse
dismiss
38. Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their official them; his _____ were always more fascinating than the topic of the day.
censure
digression
benign
rhetorical
39. What _____ did you use when you selected this essay as the prizewinner?
scrutiny
succinct
criterion
instigate
40. 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.
elucidate
strident
resigned
ostentatious
41. Her wealthy suitors wooed her with _____ gifts.
induce
erudite
lavish
ostentatious
42. No wonder Ted doesn't think straight! His mind is so cluttered with _____ information that he can't concentrate on the essentials.
extraneous
impair
inadvertently
prevalent
43. Josh is such a greedy _____ that - as soon as the earthquake struck - he tripled the price of bottled water at his store.
preclude
mollify
opportunist
heresy
44. The uncrowned queen of the fashion industry - Diana was famous for her _____ taste.
impeccable
enhance
transient
incorrigible
45. Denying that she advocated total _____ - Katya maintained she wished only to change our government - not to destroy it utterly.
flagrant
apathy
anarchy
banal
46. Drinking alcohol can _____ your ability to drive safely; if you're going to drink - don't drive.
corroborate
impair
erudite
transient
47. Youth's beauty is _____; it quickly fades with age.
abstract
retract
transient
instigate
48. Although you can still hear _____ outbursts of laughter and signing outside - the Halloween parade has passed; the party is over till next year.
sporadic
impeccable
laconic
relegate
49. When Johnny came down with a bad case of poison oak - the doctor recommended calamine lotion to _____ the itching.
resolution
alleviate
subside
garrulous
50. Though Huck was quite willing to _____ Tom's story - Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.
corroborate
embellish
surpass
mundane