Solved Examples Set 3 (Sentence Completion)

1. Truman tried to continue Roosevelt’s ________ approach to the Soviet Union, but by 1946, he had adopted a much tougher policy toward the Russians.

   1. cursory
   2. strict
   3. obligatory
   4. uncompromising
   5. conciliatory

   (E. conciliatory) The correct answer is conciliatory. The sentence sets up a contrast situation with the word but. Truman tried to do something but ended up adopting a tougher policy. Conciliatory is the only choice that suggests a previously weaker approach.

2. Unless the environmentalists can draft a more ________ proposal, the courts will disallow their proposition as too vague.

   1. legal
   2. restrictive
   3. encompassing
   4. specific
   5. ecological

   (D. specific) The missing adjective is defined as the opposite of too vague by the completed sentence. Though B is possible, the best choice is more specific. Restrictive means limiting or tending to restrict, but the context calls for specific, that is, explicit or definite.

3. Comparing him to P.T. Barnum, Mencken called William Jennings Bryan a ________, a mountebank, a fake without shame or dignity.

   1. coward
   2. charlatan
   3. poltroon
   4. craven
   5. demigod

   (B. charlatan) The best choice will mean something like fake and mountebank. A craven, or a poltroon is a coward. A charlatan is a mountebank.

4. My wealthy aunt is more than economical; she is so ________ that she washes paper plates to be used again.

   1. affluent
   2. parsimonious
   3. indigent
   4. impoverished
   5. selfish

   (B. parsimonious) The correct answer is parsimonious. The context provides a definition for the correct choice in is more than economical. The context also suggests the trait of being excessively frugal by the word so. Choices C and D would not apply because they mean poor, and the aunt is wealthy. Choice A is not excessive. E does not fit with the example of washing paper plates.

5. The ________ problem of piracy has the music industry worried, because the pirates overseas are ________ by the crackdown in the United States.

   1. burgeoning . . . unabashed
   2. widespread . . . intimidated
   3. immaterial . . . incriminated
   4. minor . . . untroubled
   5. evanescent . . . undeterred

   (A. burgeoning . . . unabashed) If the problem worries the industry, it cannot be immaterial, minor, or evanescent. And if the industry is worried, the pirates still must be unabashed (unafraid) rather than intimidated by crackdowns.

6. Churchill was cordial to Beria when they first met, but that was the last show of ________ between them.

   1. charity
   2. enmity
   3. amiability
   4. pathology
   5. austerity

   (C. amiability) The noun here will follow from the adjective cordial. The best word is amiability, closest of the five choices to cordiality.

7. The writing is awkward, even ________, but the novel has nonetheless attracted a large ________.

   1. felicitous . . . following
   2. grotesque . . . vacuity
   3. elegant . . . repertoire
   4. graceful . . . audience
   5. ungainly . . . readership

   (E. ungainly . . . readership) The first word here must have a meaning like awkward, but more intense. The only choices are grotesque, B, or ungainly, E, but only E has a noun (readership) that fits the second blank.

8. Walters and Torres ________ seven other candidates in the special election, but because neither ________ more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will have to be held for the two of them.

   1. trailed . . . captured
   2. defeated . . . recaptured
   3. out-polled . . . garnered
   4. eliminated . . . reclaimed
   5. evaded . . . achieved

   (C. out-polled . . . garnered) The sentence makes it clear that the first missing verb should indicate a success in the election, and the second should mean received. Choices A and E do not indicate a win, but recaptured in B and reclaimed in D are faulty because of the prefix re.

9. Virginia has adopted detailed new ________ for what students should know in English, history, mathematics, and science.

   1. maxims
   2. jurisdictions
   3. benchmarks
   4. affirmations
   5. vortices

   (C. benchmarks) A word that means standards is needed here. The best choice is benchmarks, which means “standards or references from which others can be measured.”

10. The success of the English-Spanish simulcast must be ________ to Margo Quiroz, who interprets 40 different news items in each nightly newscast.

    1. attested
    2. censured
    3. interpreted
    4. transliterated
    5. attributed

    (E. attributed) The context requires a transitive verb used with the preposition to meaning assign or ascribe. Choices B, C, and D do not fit these requirements. Choice A attested is used with to but means to certify or make clear.

11. America at Sea is a one-volume ________ history that covers the nation’s military and commercial activities.

    1. aquatic
    2. ancient
    3. meretricious
    4. theological
    5. maritime

    (E. maritime) The title tells us the book is about the American sea history; the logical choice is maritime, which means “of the sea.”

12. The company has accused its larger rival of trying to ________ the ________ retail market in the north by offering illegal contracts to outlets in the area.

    1. control . . . bankrupt
    2. monopolize . . . lucrative
    3. annul . . . profitable
    4. corner . . . factitious
    5. divest . . . remunerative

    (B. monopolize . . . lucrative) Three of the verbs might work here (control, monopolize, or corner), but only lucrative fits a sought-after market.

13. Although they are now commercially ________, caper bushes are still found growing wild in many ________ Mediterranean areas.

    1. exported . . . fertile
    2. marketed . . . urban
    3. preempted . . . fluvial
    4. eluded . . . indigenous
    5. cultivated . . . remote

    (E. cultivated . . . remote) The first word here might be A, B, or E, but the grow wild detail seems to contrast with the first clause, suggesting that cultivated is the best of the three. Because remote also makes more sense in the context of the sentence, the best answer is E.

14. It is difficult to take sides with either party because both of the combatants are so ________ to ________.

    1. indifferent . . . evasion
    2. reluctant . . . compromise
    3. hostile . . . interference
    4. impenetrable . . . rhetoric
    5. averse . . . expectation

    (B. reluctant . . . compromise) The first half of the sentence presents the choice between the two combatants as difficult. Choices A, D, or E would not clarify this description. Both B and C are plausible, but because many disputing parties would object to interference, choice B is preferable.

15. As the controversial argument continued, the debaters became more _________ and their remarks became more ________.

    1. subdued . . . hostile
    2. vehement . . . acrimonious
    3. reticent . . . cliché
    4. affable . . . adverse
    5. emotional . . . adroit

    (B. vehement . . . acrimonious) The answer is vehement . . . acrimonious. The signal words controversial, more, and more suggest a conflict that increases or intensifies. The only pair that supports these context clues is vehement . . . acrimonious. Even if you are not certain of the definition of acrimonious, the other choices can be eliminated because none of them suggests the intensification of the controversy.

16. Time and time again, the power of the mob in Chicago appears to have been annihilated, but it has always ________ itself.

    1. reappeared
    2. eliminated
    3. returned
    4. regenerated
    5. exhumed

    (D. regenerated) The but indicates the power has not been annihilated, so the verb that is missing must indicate a rebirth and be used with itself. A and C are not used with the pronoun; B has the opposite of the required meaning; and though E is possible, D is clearer.

17. Ozone in the Earth's atmosphere ________ living organisms from damaging ultraviolet radiation.

    1. protects
    2. warms
    3. reflects
    4. absorbs

    (A. protects) Ozone shields harmful ultaviolet radiation. Hence it protects living things on the earth.

18. Unfortunately, too many American actors in a Shakespeare play chop the verse into gobbets that are ________ to the audience and ________ to their own vocal chords.

    1. inscrutable . . . an expedience
    2. congenial . . . a danger
    3. galling . . . a panacea
    4. anodyne . . . an emollient
    5. incomprehensible . . . a threat

    (E. incomprehensible . . . a threat) The Unfortunately at the beginning tells us to look for words with negative denotations. Of the five choices, only E has both an adjective and a noun with meanings that are unfavorable.

19. The company’s ________ produce new, daring, and socially relevant plays has made it the most ________, though not the most popular, theater group in the city.

    1. reluctance to . . . esoteric
    2. avidity to . . . congenial
    3. commitment to . . . provocative
    4. inability to . . . liberal
    5. eagerness to . . . regressive

    (C. commitment to . . . provocative) Both A and D are illogical. If the company did not produce new and daring plays, it would not be described as esoteric or liberal. And if it did, it would not be congenial or regressive. Only C makes sense, with provocative fitting well with the phrase though not the most popular.

20. The primary ________ of the region’s cuisine, such as beans, legumes, and pasta, provide high levels of complex carbohydrates and often ________ meat as the primary source of protein in the diet.

    1. requirements . . . supplement
    2. components . . . replace
    3. fads . . . subjoin
    4. facet . . . duplicate
    5. ingredients . . . indemnify

    (B. components . . . replace) The noun could be either B or E, but indemnify (“to compensate for a loss”) makes no sense at all, whereas replace is a reasonable choice.

Solved Examples Set 1
Solved Examples Set 2
Solved Examples Set 3