The relationship between the two leaders has gone from positively (i) _________ to chilly at best, not least because the recent arms scandal threatens to (ii) _________ the mutual trust that has been held on both sides for years.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
| parsimonious | bolster |
| reverent | erode |
| congenial | fester |
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Solution
Congenial, erode.
When a relationship goes from something to “chilly at best,” you can surmise that the relationship used to be warm or cordial: congenial fits best here. Knowing that the relationship has devolved allows you to turn to the second blank and determine that there has been an undermining, or an eroding, of “mutual trust.”
Incensed, and perhaps spooked, by the implications of the bureau’s purportedly (i) _________ inquisitions, the Hollywood film director shuttered his studios, suspended production of numerous projects, and (ii) _________ with his wife to Europe.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
| suspicious | immigrated |
| benign | absconded |
| risqué | pandered |
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Solution
Benign, absconded.
The first blank hinges on the meaning of the word purport, which means to “pretend to be,” or to “masquerade as.” The sentence implies that the bureau is pretending to be harmless, or benign. For the second blank, you are looking for a word that means to “leave hurriedly”; absconded fits. Notice that immigrated, though close in meaning, isn’t quite right because it means to “arrive at” a country or region rather than to “leave from” it. Pandered, which means “indulged another’s desire,” is not appropriate in this sentence.
Two years after the legislature’s (i) _________ approval of the community edifice, construction came to an equally public standstill, largely due to the unforeseen hemorrhaging of the (ii) _________ funds at the hands of spendthrift leaders.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
| scorned | adduced |
| heralded | adumbrated |
| ratified | appropriated |
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Solution
Heralded, appropriated.
The phrase “equally public” gives you a clue that the legislator’s approval was also highly publicized, or heralded. Ratified, which means “officially approved,” would be redundant in this context. For the second blank, you aren’t given much of a clue about what the meaning should be. When this happens, only one answer choice will make sense (and usually that correct choice won’t add much to the sentence), while the other, incorrect answer choices will drastically change the meaning. Here, appropriated, which means “allocated” or “assigned,” fits nicely and doesn’t add any unintended meaning. Neither adduced, which means “cited as evidence,” nor adumbrated, which means “reported in an outline,” is fitting.
Notwithstanding the mishmash of worn tools littering every surface of the artist’s studio, the place exuded a certain sense of order manifest through the clutter; the decor was, if (i) _________, (ii) _________.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
| unkempt | largely unsophisticated |
| dire | positively callous |
| arduous | surprisingly deliberate |
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Solution
Unkempt, surprisingly deliberate.
The tricky blank structure masks what is ultimately a not-so-tricky word relationship: that of opposites. Clues for this relationship can be found in the words notwithstanding and if. Essentially, the right answers will be words that mean, first, “cluttered,” and second, “ordered.”
The apparent simplicity of a cup of coffee _________ the dizzying number of hours of toil required to produce it, from months of cultivation of the bean tree to painstaking refinement in highly sophisticated machinery.
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Solution
Belies.
The phrase apparent simplicity and dizzying number of hours indicate that you are searching for a contrast word, specifically one indicating that there is more to coffee than meets the eye. Belies, one meaning of which is “to be at odds with,” is most appropriate here.
Despite their diminutive stature, horse jockeys are far from _________ bunch: many would all-too-happily allow minor umbrage to escalate to barroom brawl.
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Solution
An effete.
The clue despite their diminutive stature means that the second part of the sentence needs to go against what one might think about physically small people; the clue many would all-too-happily allow minor umbrage to escalate to barroom brawl confirms that these jockeys are a contentious bunch. Because of the expression “far from” before the blank, you need a word that expresses what the jockeys are not. The word ef ete means “pretentious or refined, verging on wimpy and ineffectual.”
Despite their diminutive stature, horse jockeys are far from _________ bunch: many would all-too-happily allow minor umbrage to escalate to barroom brawl.
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Solution
An effete.
The clue despite their diminutive stature means that the second part of the sentence needs to go against what one might think about physically small people; the clue many would all-too-happily allow minor umbrage to escalate to barroom brawl confirms that these jockeys are a contentious bunch. Because of the expression “far from” before the blank, you need a word that expresses what the jockeys are not. The word ef ete means “pretentious or refined, verging on wimpy and ineffectual.”
There are many good reasons to construct urban traffic lanes for cyclists: city infrastructure is already _________ under the strain of excess auto traffic, and the safety advantages of limiting road-sharing between cyclists and vehicles are all too clear.
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Solution
Groaning.
You might feel stuck if the idiom groan under the strain doesn’t ring familiar to you. But process of elimination will still work here: none of the other words make sense in this context.
It was apparent to everyone present that upon receiving the medal, a decoration long past due, the superannuated veteran adopted a mood of exaggerated hilarity, almost as if the unexpected resolution of a lifetime of injustice came as a _________ surprise.
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Solution
Risible.
The clue phrase here is “exaggerated hilarity,” letting you know that the veteran thought the situation was funny or amusing. (Superannuated tells you that he was extremely old, thus exaggerating the impact of a lifetime of injustice. Risible, which means “laughable,” is most appropriate.
Her grandparents valued seemliness above all else, and were (i) _________ at her incorrigibly (ii) _________ behavior.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) |
| loquacious | mutinous |
| agog | indelicate |
| nonchalant | tortuous |
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Solution
Agog, indelicate.
The sentence has two good clues — the grandparents value seemliness, the state of being proper and appropriate. The woman’s behavior is incorrigible (resistant to correction), which definitely has a bad connotation.
It was difficult to tell whether his tirade in fact had force of fact, whether his forceful (i) _________ was mere (ii) _________, motivated by malice, or whether it ranked as reportorial (iii) _________ of which the committee ought take notice.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| fulmination | sophistry | muckraking |
| desecration | boosterism | calumny |
| ululation | aspersion | prattle |
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Solution
Fulmination, aspersion, muckraking.
It was dif icult to tell whether his tirade in fact had force of fact means that it was difficult tell whether someone’s angry speech (fulmination) was actually true. It is hard to tell whether his speech is “motivated by malice” (that is, “malicious lies,” or aspersion) or “reportorial” information (muckraking “exposing corruption”) that should actually be listened to. Note that calumny is similar to aspersion and cannot work in the third blank — while the second blank describes negative speech meant to cause harm to others, the third blank describes negative speech that exposes the truth.