Meant to demonstrate an air of sophistication and worldliness, the comments that Hannah made upon exiting the building served only to emphasize her _______ mentality and reinforce Mr. Hassan’s conviction that her dismissal was justified because she was not yet mature enough for the corporate world.
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Solution
( C. puerile , D. callow )
The trigger is that the comments were meant to do one thing but served only to do another and the respective clues are sophistication and not yet mature. The comments failed to project sophistication and so the blank must be a word that means immature. Choices (A), (B), (E), and (D) are all words that describe what Hannah may be like, but none have the meaning of immature that is needed to complete this sentence correctly.
Many senior faculty members who were accustomed to being addressed in a more collegial and egalitarian manner were alienated by the _______ tone of the new department chair’s introductory remarks.
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Solution
( B. imperious , C. peremptory )
The blank refers to the tone of the chair’s remarks, which offended people accustomed to being addressed in a more collegial and egalitarian manner. Thus, you need a word that means non-collegial or non-egalitarian; a simple word like bossy works well. Choices (D) and (E) give roughly synonymous meanings, but nothing in the sentence supports the idea that the speech was optimistic. Neither ignominious, which means shameful, nor saturnine, which means gloomy, makes sense in the blank, so eliminate choices (A) and (F). Both imperious and peremptory can mean bossy, so choices (B) and (C) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
The young minister was startled to learn that his parishioners considered him _______; he had been unaware that his message was being undermined by his sanctimonious and self-righteous tone.
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Solution
( B. moralistic , E. sententious )
Recycle the clue sanctimonious and self-righteous into the blank. Both ingenuous and unaffected are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (A) and (F). Neither punctilious, which means overly concerned with precise formalities, nor salacious, which means obscene, is supported by any clues in the sentence, so eliminate choices (C) and (D). Both moralistic and sententious can mean sanctimonious and self-righteous, so choices (B) and (E) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
In contrast to the stark facades of their surviving ruins, medieval castles were depicted in contemporary tapestries as _______ with colorful banners and pennants.
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Solution
( C. bedizened , D. caparisoned )
The trigger in contrast to indicates that the colorful depictions of castles differ from the stark facades of their surviving ruins, so you need a word like decorated for the blank. Both bedizened and caparisoned can mean decorated, so choices (C) and (D) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences. Choices (A) and (B) would also give equivalent meanings, but nothing in the sentence suggests the castles were weakened. Neither extirpated, which means exterminated, nor fomented, which means incited, makes sense in the sentence, so eliminate choices (E) and (F).
While blood and human sacrifices performed to mollify the gods were ubiquitous in ancient cultures, the Mayans’ propensity for sacrificing prisoners from neighboring tribes _______ all the other tribes.
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Solution
( C. disquieted , F. affronted )
You know from the clue that human sacrifices were ubiquitous, so the act was familiar to all the tribes. The text sets up a contrast between the Mayans and the neighboring tribes in terms of their sacrificing. The trigger word while signals that the missing word goes in the opposite direction of the clue, and it must mean making the other tribes uncomfortable. Eliminate choices (B) and (E) because those words are positive. Choice (D), expatiated, means speak about in detail and has nothing to do with the context of the sentence. Despite its topical relevance, choice (A) doesn’t contrast with the ubiquity of the sacrifices, nor does the context support the Mayans confining all the other tribes. Although choices (C) and (F) aren’t synonyms, they both fit with the given context to appropriately complete the sentence.
The homicide detectives didn’t truly understand the _______ of the criminal until they found the secret hideout where he stored his instruments of torture and carried out his heinous acts.
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Solution
( B. enormity , D. iniquity )
The clue is that the criminal carried out heinous acts, so the blank describing the criminal must be something like evil. Both enormity and iniquity can mean evil, so choices (B) and (D) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences. Choices (C) and (E) give equivalent meanings, but the sentence doesn’t support the characterization of the criminal as clever. Neither pulchritude, which means beauty, nor perfidy, which means disloyalty, makes sense in the blank, so eliminate choices (A) and (F).
The _______ pirate plundered every trade ship that came near his own ship; it was almost as if he could never loot or pillage enough to satisfy his craving for gold and jewels.
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Solution
( C. voracious , E. rapacious )
The clue here is that the pirate can’t satisfy his craving, so you need a word like insatiable or greedy for the blank; rapacious and voracious give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.Both ebullient and effusive are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (B) and (F). Raffish and showy could describe a pirate, but there’s no context to support that pair of synonyms, so eliminate choices (A) and (D).
Under no delusions about his actual financial situation, the man’s desire to present a frugal picture to his friends and avoid being labeled _______ caused him to go to such an extreme that he ended up being called a Scrooge.
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Solution
( A. a spendthrift , B. a prodigal )
The text tells you that the man is anxious to avoid a label, so his actions must contrast with the label he is trying to avoid. He wants to present a frugal picture, so he must be saving money. Therefore, the missing word must mean something like reckless spender. Choices (C) and (E) could be attractive if you miss the contrast between the clue and the blank; these words mean stingy person and are opposite of what you need. Choices (D) and (F) are synonyms, but there aren’t any clues in the sentence that indicate the man is seeking pleasure. That leaves choices (A) and (B), both of which mean wasteful spender and make them the best answers.
The SWAT team entered the dark building on high alert, their guns drawn and their night vision goggles on; each agent’s eyes and ears were attuned to the slightest disturbance in the _______ recesses of the rooms.
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Solution
( C. stygian , D. gloomy )
The blank describes the recesses of the rooms, so recycle the clue dark. Both gloomy and stygian can mean dark, so choices (C) and (D) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences. If you don’t know stygian—it’s the adjectival form of Styx, the river crossed to get to the Greek afterlife, and so literally means dark as hell—use your POE. Choices (E) and choice (F) are synonyms, but aren’t supported by the sentence. The recesses may be empty, but, again, that can’t be supported by the sentence; eliminate choice (A). Cacophonous means having a harsh or discordant sound, so choice (B) wouldn’t make sense in a room where the agents’ ears were attuned to the slightest disturbance.
Eileen used to be a picky eater, but since a new complex of fine dining and ethnic restaurants opened in her neighborhood, she has become quite _______.
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Solution
( C. epicurean , E. gourmandizing )
The time trigger used to be indicates that Eileen is no longer a picky eater, so you need a word that means something like adventurous with food. Both finicky and persnickety are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (B) and (F). Choices (A) and (D) give synonymous meanings, but nothing in the sentence supports the idea that Eileen gained weight. Both epicurean and gourmandizing can mean adventurous with food, so choices (C) and (E) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.