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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. The boss prefaced his speech by telling a pointless _____ about an encounter he'd had with former President Bush.
exuberance
elucidate
vacillate
anecdote
2. Using only a few descriptive phrases - Austen manages to _____ the character of Mr. Collins so deftly that we can predict his every move.
expedient
levity
delineate
assumption
3. The architect realized that her design for the new school had to be in _____ with the local building code.
compliance
recluse
induce
ascetic
4. Paradoxically - _____ reasoning does not always produce incorrect results; even though your logic may be flawed - the conclusion you reach may still be correct.
apathy
fallacious
heresy
adversity
5. The costume designer _____ the leading lady's ball gown with yards and yards of ribbon and lace.
recluse
buttress
eclectic
embellish
6. Con artists take advantage of the _____ of inexperienced Internet users to gain access to their credit card information.
rectify
scrutiny
credulity
substantiate
7. As far as I'm concerned - Apple's claims about its new computer are pure _____; no machine is that good!
hyperbole
extricate
adversary
inane
8. A born storyteller - my father loved to _____ anecdotes about his early years in New York.
arbitrary
document
recount
verbose
9. The reviewers praised the new restaurant's _____ selection of dishes - which ranged from Asian stir fries to French ragouts and stews.
delineate
eclectic
exemplary
benign
10. Looking for any inconsistency in the testimony that might exonerate his client - the defense lawyer pounced on a _____ between the two witnesses' versions of what had occurred.
corroborate
discrepancy
abstract
elucidate
11. 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.
impede
obdurate
reserve
garrulous
12. When both Harvard and Stanford accepted Laura - she was in a _____ as to which school she should attend.
cursory
benign
partisan
quandary
13. Because Carmen believed in Juan's fidelity - she _____ the notion that he might be having an affair.
dismiss
impeccable
garrulous
ostentatious
14. Mother was a _____ housekeeper - unwilling to allow a single speck of dirt to mar her perfect home.
cryptic
retract
superficial
meticulous
15. Because she was a firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy - Miss Post _____ the modern tendency to address new acquaintances by their first names.
deprecate
cryptic
undermine
corroborate
16. The airline customer service agent tried to _____ the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.
mollify
frivolous
elusive
explicit
17. Katya's _____ love of justice moved her to champion the cause of anyone she considered unfairly treated by society.
induce
recount
inherent
disparage
18. Please try not to include so many _____ details in your report; the bare facts are all I need.
capricious
superfluous
austere
abstract
19. The winter storm was ______; it changed course constantly.
capricious
debunk
impede
usurp
20. To John - who had never missed a meal - hunger was an _____ concept - one he understood only in theory.
insipid
abstract
inherent
reticent
21. At commencement - the dean praised Ellen for her _____ behavior as class president.
succinct
predilection
exemplary
impeccable
22. To be low man on the totem pole is to have a decidedly inferior place in the _____.
furtive
impede
peripheral
hierarchy
23. Bobby was such a _____ eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust.
fastidious
induce
eclectic
pervasive
24. The special prosecutor determined that the attorney general - though inept - had not intentionally set out to _____ the progress of the investigation.
vacillate
mundane
constraint
impede
25. Though Huck was quite willing to _____ Tom's story - Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.
corroborate
recount
mollify
coercion
26. Blind people sometimes develop a compensatory ability to sense the _____ of objects around them.
apathy
proximity
malicious
disdain
27. 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.
predilection
renounce
scrupulous
mitigate
28. The rich new student tried to attract friends by making an _____ display of his wealth.
alleviate
ostentatious
adversity
altruistic
29. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to _____ an investigation into the department's activities.
peripheral
ostentatious
instigate
disparity
30. Nothing could shake his _____ that his children would get the best education that money could buy.
resolution
debilitate
opportunist
nurture
31. 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.
skeptic
elucidate
acclaim
constraint
32. Stories in The New York Times often include _____ allusions to obscure people and events.
impair
adulation
esoteric
eulogy
33. Dirt poor and out of work - she did not give up but continued to fight against _____.
inane
adversity
corroborate
conciliatory
34. 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
retract
criterion
laconic
35. The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to _____ the lying testimony of the prosecution's sole witness.
opportunist
adulation
predilection
refute
36. The Head Start program attempts to _____ prekindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter elementary school.
nurture
adulation
vacillate
resigned
37. With its worn-out dialogue and predictable plot - the sitcom struck me as unbearably _____.
banal
surpass
constraint
colloquial
38. Don't just hint around that you're dissatisfied; be _____ about what's bothering you.
explicit
specious
proliferation
impair
39. Warned of _____ weather conditions ahead - the pilot told the passengers to fasten their seat belts.
homogeneous
whimsical
opulence
turbulent
40. All things change over time; nothing is _____.
exacerbate
immutable
prudent
subside
41. Someone mute cannot talk; someone _____ can hardly stop talking.
verbose
incorrigible
apathy
fastidious
42. 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
immutable
extraneous
reserve
43. The senator was _____ for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress.
lavish
ambivalence
ironic
censure
44. The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to _____ his weak case.
exacerbate
embellish
buttress
cryptic
45. Judy's great fear was that she might _____ omit a question on the exam and mismark her entire answer sheet.
placate
inadvertently
explicit
dogmatic
46. Noticing the _____ glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter - the clerk wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter in the store.
ascetic
austere
anarchy
furtive
47. It is _____ that his success came when he least wanted it.
apathy
ironic
subside
prevalent
48. To win his audience - the speaker used every _____ trick in the book.
mitigate
rhetorical
taciturn
decorum
49. Acetone is an extremely _____ liquid: it vaporizes instantly.
alleviate
abridge
criterion
volatile
50. The coming trip to France should provide a _____ test of the value of my conversational French class.
pragmatic
debunk
altruistic
verbose