Diecast truck manufacturers release limited edition models and others with obscure commercial advertising in order to _______ their trucks and ensure that certain items become dedicated collectibles instead of toys.
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Solution
( A. rarefy , D. subtilize )
The manufacturers’ goal is to make certain items dedicated collectibles, so they would do something to make them more rare or special. Choices (E) and (F) are synonyms that mean activate, but the blank refers to the trucks themselves and so you can eliminate these choices.Choice (C) can be eliminated because it means examine and doesn’t match the needed meaning. Choice (B) is also irrelevant to the context of the blank. That leaves choices (A) and (D), both of which mean to make more rare and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
The protestors acknowledged the leader’s appeal to _______ violence, and walked quietly in the funeral processions instead of throwing rocks at police officers.
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Solution
( B. abjure , C. eschew )
The clue walked quietly instead of throwing rocks indicates the leader must have asked the protestors to stop the violence. Eliminate choices (D) and (E) because they both convey a sense of support or approval and are opposite of what you need in the blank. Choice (F) also doesn’t work for a similar reason; manifest means demonstrate. Choice (A) means soothe and does not apply in this context. Choices (B) and (C) are synonyms that mean to avoid or give up and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
The athlete, once well respected for his work with the anti-drug programs, was scorned for his _______ nature when medical tests proved he’d been using steroids for years.
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Solution
( D. disingenuous , F. duplicitous )
You know that the athlete used to be well-respected because of his work with anti-drug programs. The contrast is that he was working with anti-drug programs while using steroids for years, so a good word for the blank would be hypocritical or dishonest. Choices (C) and (E) can be eliminated because they are both positive and mean optimistic, and choice (A) does not mean dishonest and is also incorrect. Choice (B) means related to a crime, and does not necessarily mean dishonest. Choices (D) and (F) are the best answers because they both mean deceitful and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
The intricate, complex photographic process of the daguerreotype contributed to the rapid development of numerous related processes, a _______ that included tintypes and calotypes.
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Solution
( A. proliferation , F. burgeoning )
The last part of the sentence parallels the middle part. The clue to the blank is the rapid development of numerous related processes, so the missing word must mean rapid development or expansion. Eliminate choice (B) since it is the opposite of what you’re looking for. Choices (C), (D), and (E) seem applicable, but none of these choices stays in the scope of the meaning you need in the blank. Although the daguerreotype was the oldest photographic process, there’s no context for this in the blank and you can eliminate those three choices. That leaves correct choices (A) and (F), both of which can mean rapid growth and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
The Shakespeare scholar argued that in all of the playwright’s 37 works, he had never written the part of a _______ character, only relying on vibrant and colorful individuals to propel his stories forward.
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Solution
( A. pedestrian , F. mundane )
The clue is that Shakespeare was only relying on vibrant and colorful individuals, so the blank must be the opposite of vibrant and colorful. You need a word that means ordinary. Eliminate original and extraordinary, synonyms that have the opposite meaning of ordinary. Eliminate imperial, which means regal, and domineering, which means authoritarian; neither one relates to the context of the blank. Choices (A) and (F), pedestrian and mundane, both mean common or ordinary and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
Madeline’s guests all agreed that had it not been for the terrible weather, her wedding day, complete with white dress and three-tiered cake, would have been _______.
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Solution
( B. divine , E. idyllic )
The clues are that the guests agreed that had the weather NOT been awful; the implication is that it was otherwise perfect. You are looking for a word that means perfect. Eliminate urban, which means metropolitan and has nothing to do with the meaning you need. Eliminate excessive and disproportionate, choices (C) and (D): Though the wedding may have been overdone or out of balance, these are irrelevant to the clues. Finally, eliminate rustic, choice (F), which means having country simplicity. The best answers are divine and idyllic, both of which mean perfect and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
Classmates who had pre-judged Lucy as unaware were surprised when she made the _______ observation that their professor’s missing coffee mug indicated that he had left for the day.
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Solution
( B. perceptive , E. astute )
The blank describes the kind of observation that would surprise people who thought Lucy was unaware, so a word that means something like sharp or observant would make sense—anything that would show that Lucy was aware. Both asinine and obtuse are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (A) and (C). Choices (D) and (F) have roughly synonymous meanings, but an observation that was clear wouldn’t have impressed her classmates. Both perceptive and astute can mean observant, so choices (B) and (E) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
The _______ road, made what seemed like a short trip on a map much longer in reality; it twisted its way through mountains to get from one valley to another.
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Solution
( E. serpentine , F. tortuous )
The semicolon trigger tells you the two parts of the sentence agree; since the blank is describing the road, you need a word that means twisted. Both abbreviated and fleeting are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (A) and (C). Neither invigorating, which means energizing, nor immense, which means huge, is supported by the sentence, so eliminate choices (B) and (D). Both serpentine and tortuous can mean twisted, so choices (E) and (F) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
Because she always had the correct answers to life’s difficult dilemmas, my grandmother was sought after for her ______ by family members and neighbors.
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Solution
( B. wisdom , E. sagacity )
To fill in the blank, you need to find a word that describes the grandmother who is described in the sentence as having the correct answers to life’s difficult dilemmas. Therefore, you want to find words that also describe someone who has all the right answers. Sagacity means acuteness of mental discernment, or, more simply, wisdom. Meanwhile, bewilderment and ignorance are words describing someone who does not have all the right answers. Duplicity and guile are both words having to do with deceit and lying and are not traits of the grandmother suggested in the sentence.
By reordering the sentences in the problem and adding distracting figures, the professor successfully _______ a previously easy exam question and made it almost impossible to solve.
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Solution
( B. muddled , F. obfuscated )
To fill in the blank, you need to identify what the professor did to the exam question. Because he or she reordered the sentences and added distractions, he or she made the problem more confusing and unclear. Muddled and obfuscated are synonyms that mean made obscure or unclear and are therefore the correct choices. Erased and obliterated are also synonyms, but do not describe what the professor did to the question. Interpreted means made clear, which is the opposite of what the professor did. Engendered is a nice vocabulary word but means produced or caused, which has nothing to do with making a previously created problem confusing.