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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. No matter how hard Darnell tried to lure the trout into taking the bait - the fish was too _____ to catch.
incorrigible
divergent
elusive
superficial
2. Although Eric knew the boss had no sense of humor - he couldn't resist making one _____ remark.
laconic
jocular
metaphor
superficial
3. Please try not to include so many _____ details in your report; the bare facts are all I need.
superfluous
extraneous
profane
emulate
4. In a fiery speech - Mario _____ his fellow students to go out on strike to protest the university's anti-affirmative action stand.
taciturn
incite
superfluous
insipid
5. The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to _____ the lying testimony of the prosecution's sole witness.
ephemeral
exuberance
refute
levity
6. After Ralph dropped his second try of drinks that week - the manager swiftly _____ him to a minor post behind the bar.
usurp
guile
relegate
adulation
7. Her wealthy suitors wooed her with _____ gifts.
usurp
incorrigible
jocular
lavish
8. The young princess made the foolish _____ that the regent would not object to her taking the reins of power.
allusion
scrutiny
assumption
emulate
9. Through the comments of the characters in his cartoon strip - Doonesbury - Gary Trudeau ridicules political corruption; his humor is _____ in nature.
incongruous
apathy
satirical
rebuttal
10. Historically - traders and missionaries often proved themselves to be _____ explorers - bravely venturing into new territories despite the dangers involved.
interpid
conciliatory
malicious
presumptuous
11. Instead of delivering a spoken _____ at Genny's memorial service - Jeff sang a song he had written in her honor.
eulogy
emulate
nurture
haughtiness
12. 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.
peripheral
placate
incongruous
reserve
13. The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case - sure that she could answer his arguments in her _____.
nurture
rebuttal
retract
subside
14. Tourists are urged not to _____ the sanctity of holy places by wearing immodest garb.
relegate
compliance
substantiate
profane
15. The boss prefaced his speech by telling a pointless _____ about an encounter he'd had with former President Bush.
anecdote
coercion
discerning
colloquial
16. The coming trip to France should provide a _____ test of the value of my conversational French class.
abstract
pragmatic
substantiate
innocuous
17. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
elusive
astute
hyperbole
disparage
18. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
insipid
hierarchy
rectify
jocular
19. Rather than live in the crowded city center - we chose to buy a house in one of the _____ suburbs ringing the metropolis.
fallacious
rancor
peripheral
innocuous
20. Shrewdly purchasing valuable plots of land for small sums - John Jacob Astor gained a reputation as an _____ investor.
impair
repudiate
emulate
astute
21. Covering the Olympic Games - the sportscasters _____ every American victory and grumbled about every American defeat.
impair
peripheral
acclaim
deprecate
22. Compared to Jo - who was perfectly ready to chat with anyone about anything - Beth was _____ about what she considered personal matters.
reticent
taciturn
mundane
gravity
23. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to _____ an investigation into the department's activities.
laconic
instigate
incite
hypothetical
24. The headmaster's _____ demeanor tended to care off the more timid students - who never visited his study willingly.
taciturn
austere
turbulent
extricate
25. Michael's severe bout of the flue _____ him so much that for a week he was too tired to go back to work.
laconic
incongruous
superfluous
debilitate
26. Unlike Widow Douglas - who _____ Huck's minor offenses - Miss Watson did nothing but scold.
levity
indifferent
condone
coercion
27. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty - her _____ stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks.
preclude
malicious
mundane
deprecate
28. To John - who had never missed a meal - hunger was an _____ concept - one he understood only in theory.
rancor
lavish
metaphor
abstract
29. An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively _____ and should have no ill effect on you.
anarchy
innocuous
levity
ambiguous
30. 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.
disdain
juxtaposition
extricate
benign
31. Everyone waited to see which one of the rival candidates for city council the mayor would _____.
discerning
anecdote
scrupulous
endorse
32. There is a fine line between speech that is _____ and to the point and speech so abrupt that it verges on rudeness.
inadvertently
ascetic
terse
jocular
33. I was bowled over by the _____ of Amy's welcome. What an enthusiastic greeting!
exuberance
immutable
partisan
decorum
34. The legendary athlete Jim Thorpe - who _____ all his competitors at the 1912 Olympic Games - made a name for himself in baseball - football - and track.
guile
surpass
belie
innate
35. Without additional funding - it may not be _____ to build a new stadium for the team on the city's highly developed West Side.
laconic
credulity
resigned
feasible
36. To win his audience - the speaker used every _____ trick in the book.
subside
jocular
superfluous
rhetorical
37. The wealthy - self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict - _____ lifestyle practiced by members of some monastic orders.
austere
anecdote
incite
ascetic
38. These endorsements written by satisfied customers _____ our claim that Barron's SAT is the best SAT-prep book on the market.
whimsical
heresy
substantiate
implement
39. You had better _____ your accounting errors before the auditors arrive.
obdurate
skeptic
rectify
advocate
40. No wonder Ted doesn't think straight! His mind is so cluttered with _____ information that he can't concentrate on the essentials.
conciliatory
corroborate
extraneous
succinct
41. 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.
usurp
deprecate
pervasive
allusion
42. Their _____ in rank made no difference at all to the prince and Cinderella.
expedient
eulogy
relegate
disparity
43. 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 _____.
mitigate
induce
garrulous
heresy
44. Though Aunt Bea at times had to _____ Opie for inattention in church - she believed he was at heart a God-fearing lad.
ironic
haughtiness
reprove
laconic
45. Though Glenn was devout - he was no _____; he never tried to force his beliefs on friends.
substantiate
derivative
zealot
prevalent
46. Though Widow Douglas had hopes of reforming Huck - Miss Watson considered him _____ and swore he would come to no good end.
incorrigible
advocate
redundant
allusion
47. Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their official them; his _____ were always more fascinating than the topic of the day.
digression
decorum
elucidate
rhetorical
48. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his formidable _____.
superfluous
juxtaposition
reserve
adversary
49. 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.
homogeneous
surpass
induce
nonchalance
50. The stereotypical cowboy is a _____ soul - answering lengthy questions with a simple 'yep' or 'nope.'
delineate
taciturn
expedient
document