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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. Towering over the nearby houses - the MacMansion looked wholly _____ in the historic neighborhood of small Craftsman bungalows.
incongruous
buttress
incite
laconic
2. Because Sal once had fallen asleep while reading War and Peace - he thought that all Russian novels were _____.
zealot
recount
debilitate
soporific
3. There is a fine line between speech that is _____ and to the point and speech so abrupt that it verges on rudeness.
specious
incongruous
proximity
terse
4. Stories in The New York Times often include _____ allusions to obscure people and events.
esoteric
extricate
refute
whimsical
5. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the _____ of countless get-rich-quick schemes.
arbitrary
laconic
immutable
proliferation
6. Is an old-fashioned hairstyle an apt _____ for being out of step with the times and in need of change?
constraint
reticent
metaphor
coercion
7. When you send a message on Twitter - be _____; a tweet cannot be more than 140 characters long.
concise
ephemeral
anecdote
superficial
8. 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.
esoteric
incorrigible
homogeneous
benign
9. 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 _____.
heresy
superficial
disparity
erudite
10. The young princess made the foolish _____ that the regent would not object to her taking the reins of power.
assumption
rebuttal
altruistic
derivative
11. The Beatles expressed themselves through capricious - flip humor and _____ displays of carefree abandon.
exacerbate
vacillate
whimsical
resolution
12. 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.
advocate
benign
surreptitious
insipid
13. After medical school - the two doctors took widely _____ paths - one becoming a wealthy plastic surgeon - the other joining the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders.
cursory
reprimand
jocular
divergent
14. Please try not to include so many _____ details in your report; the bare facts are all I need.
superfluous
constraint
rhetorical
opportunist
15. All things change over time; nothing is _____.
resigned
immutable
transient
substantiate
16. Because Carmen believed in Juan's fidelity - she _____ the notion that he might be having an affair.
furtive
dismiss
resigned
soporific
17. You can _____ your chances of being admitted to the college of your choice by learning to write well.
rectify
cursory
enhance
turbulent
18. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
surpass
induce
hierarchy
nurture
19. At the protest rally - the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal _____.
reserve
fervor
surpass
credulity
20. Psychoanalysts must maintain their professional _____ and stay uninvolved with their patients' personal lives.
reprove
detachment
banal
strident
21. The reviewers heaped _____ on the novice playwright - ridiculing his pretentious dialogue - flat characters - and simple-minded plot.
derision
skeptic
disparity
dismiss
22. The special prosecutor determined that the attorney general - though inept - had not intentionally set out to _____ the progress of the investigation.
impede
volatile
proliferation
oblivion
23. Josh is such a greedy _____ that - as soon as the earthquake struck - he tripled the price of bottled water at his store.
soporific
rancor
alleviate
opportunist
24. A doting mother - Emma was more likely to praise her son's childish finger paintings than to _____ them.
extraneous
whimsical
renounce
disparage
25. The governor's appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a _____ violation of the state laws against nepotism.
repudiate
incorrigible
flagrant
austere
26. 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.
arbitrary
malicious
dogmatic
retract
27. When both Harvard and Stanford accepted Laura - she was in a _____ as to which school she should attend.
adversary
disparity
quandary
immutable
28. Although Georgia O'Keeffe painted subjects over the years - she had a definite _____ for painting flowers.
discrepancy
predilection
malicious
prolific
29. Othello's false friend lago uses considerable _____ to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him
guile
reticent
heresy
affirmation
30. Thoroughly baffled by Holmes's _____ remarks - Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime.
cryptic
relegate
extraneous
renounce
31. Though Huck was quite willing to _____ Tom's story - Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.
benign
corroborate
expedient
impeccable
32. 'Any publicity is good publicity - 'said the starlet. 'If I can't have a good reputation - I'll settle for _____.'
levity
prudent
notoriety
contentious
33. A radical committed to social change - Reed had no patience with the conservative views _____ in the America of his day.
prevalent
furtive
notoriety
zealot
34. The mayor was unwilling to _____ the plan until she was sure it had the governor's backing.
insipid
relegate
arbitrary
implement
35. Although Nancy enjoyed Bill's _____ - lighthearted companionship - she sometimes wondered whether he could ever be serious.
predilection
exemplary
frivolous
austere
36. The mayfly is an _____ creature; its adult life lasts little more than a day.
feasible
ephemeral
reserve
contentious
37. A pragmatic politician - he was guided more by what was _____ than by what was right.
extol
anarchy
expedient
equivocal
38. A firm believer in democratic government - she could not understand the _____ of people who never bothered to vote.
altruistic
apathy
coercion
discrepancy
39. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
metaphor
fervor
relegate
hyperbole
40. The classic cowboy hero is a _____ figure - someone generally described as the strong - silent type.
verbose
relegate
opulence
laconic
41. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with _____ on the last day of school.
scrupulous
decorum
notoriety
document
42. Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their official them; his _____ were always more fascinating than the topic of the day.
redundant
exemplary
censure
digression
43. At evening block inspection - the recruits' bunk room - washroom - and gear come under the inspecting officer's close _____.
induce
hyperbole
turbulent
scrutiny
44. Michael's severe bout of the flue _____ him so much that for a week he was too tired to go back to work.
specious
laconic
debilitate
prevalent
45. The conceited rap star relished the _____ he received from his groupies and yes-men.
repudiate
adulation
adversary
gregarious
46. No matter how hard Darnell tried to lure the trout into taking the bait - the fish was too _____ to catch.
digression
venerate
implement
elusive
47. The Head Start program attempts to _____ prekindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter elementary school.
nurture
extol
exacerbate
constraint
48. Rejecting the candidate's _____ comments on tax reform - the reporter pressed him to state clearly where he stood on the issue.
equivocal
exemplary
reticent
surreptitious
49. Suppose you are accepted by Harvard - Stanford - and Yale. Which one would you attend? Remember - this is only a _____ situation.
hypothetical
exacerbate
disparity
austere
50. When the boys first met their new stepmother - they felt some _____ - but eventually they lost that initial awkwardness and talked with her comfortably.
capricious
constraint
ostentatious
placate