The other students in the dining hall quickly learned to avoid any table where Fred was sitting because he constantly interjected _______ remarks into every conversation going on nearby.
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Solution
( A. puerile , E. jejune )
The other students did not to sit at Fred’s table because they did not like the remarks he made. The word in the blank must be negative. Puerile and jejune both mean childish and immature, so choices (A) and (E) are correct. Crude means lacking tact, which fits but there is no synonym for crude among the options; eliminate choice (B). Limpid is positive and means clear, so eliminate choice (C). Inimical means hostile and insidious means stealthy or treacherous, but neither word has a synonym among the options. Eliminate choices (D) and (F).
Though Marian thought her grandmother’s hat was unquestionably _______, the young woman respected her elders enough to make no comment on her grandmother’s fashion choices.
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Solution
( D. gaudy , E. garish )
Marian does not comment on her grandmother’s hat out of respect, which means she dislikes the hat. You need a word that means ugly or in poor taste. Iconoclastic and heretical both mean going against established beliefs. This is too strong and does not describe a hat, so eliminate choices (A) and (F). Imperious and haughty both mean arrogant, so eliminate choices (B) and (C). Gaudy and garish both mean showy and in poor taste, and can be used to describe clothing. Choices (D) and (E) are both correct.
The preening emperor loved to display sartorial splendor, and regularly gave great attention to the detail of his _______.
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Solution
( B. raiment , D. caparison )
The clue word sartorial means relating to tailoring or clothing, so the word in the blank must mean clothing. Panegyric and oratory both mean speech, so eliminate choices (A) and (E). Raiment and caparison both mean clothing, making choices (B) and (D) correct. Fetes and soirees are both types of parties, so eliminate choices (C) and (E).
The bill pushed through by the foreign government was touted as increasing transparency, professional integrity, and independence for the media; in reality, though, the bill was simply a way for the officials to protect their cronyism from the newspapers that had been _______ in their attempts to expose government corruption.
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Solution
( A. assiduous , F. sedulous )
The blank describes the newspapers’ attempts to expose government corruption; since the sentence suggests that the threat posed by the papers inspired the new law, a word that means something like effective, thorough, or hard-working would make sense. Both lackadaisical and perfunctory are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (B) and (C). Choices (D) and (E) give roughly synonymous meanings, but aren’t supported by the sentence. Both assiduous and sedulous can mean hard-working, so choices (A) and (F) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
After being defeated in 2007, the Australian Liberal party needed to find a leader who could return them to power; they hope that the current leader, a _______ social conservative who leads the opposition on a number of issues, including stem cell research and carbon trading, and who wrote a book with the telling title Battlelines, may be the man for the job.
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Solution
( D. pugnacious , F. disputatious )
The blank describes a politician who leads the opposition, and whose martially-themed book title is said to be telling, so a word that means something like argumentative or belligerent would make sense. Both compliant and diffident are nearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, so eliminate choices (A) and (C). Neither circumspect, which means cautious, nor milquetoast, which means timid, is supported by the sentence, so eliminate choices (B) and (E). Both pugnacious and disputatious can mean argumentative, so choices (D) and (F) give you appropriate, equivalent sentences.
The halcyon days of the new administration belied the president’s _______ journey to the White House.
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Solution
( B. tortuous , C. anfractuous )
The word belied indicates a contrast between the current state of the administration, halcyon days, and the president’s journey to the White House. Therefore, the missing words must mean the opposite of peaceful or calm; you need a word such as rough or chaotic. Eliminate choice (F), because that word agrees with halcyon. Choices (A) and (E) both convey done easily with skill, and can be eliminated. There is also no context to support a domineering journey, and thus choice (D) is incorrect. That leaves choices (B) and (C), both of which mean twisted or not smooth and produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
The Renaissance, Dutch masters, Impressionists, and Cubist paintings were all installed in the same museum gallery with what seemed to be no consideration to the arrangement, but closer examination revealed that the _______ was actually arranged in alphabetic order of work title.
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Solution
( A. jumble , D. gallimaufry )
The clue is that first the paintings were installed with no consideration to the arrangement and then they were actually arranged in alphabetical order. The blank comes after the trigger word but and agrees with the first description. So, the missing word must mean something like disorganized grouping. Choices (C) and (E) are similar in meaning, but do not pertain to a disorganized group; they can be eliminated. The paintings do not have anything to do with water or the beach, so you can eliminate choice (B). Choice (F) is also irrelevant to the meaning you need. Choices (A) and (D) fit within the context of the sentence and both refer to a random grouping of items.
Although typically quite lucid in his explanations of his theories, James used words that were so _______ that the students asked him to review yesterday’s discussion in its entirety.
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Solution
( C. abstruse , E. obscure )
The trigger word and clue Although typically quite lucid in his explanations signals that his explanation in yesterday’s discussion was not very clear. So, you need words that mean unclear or hard to understand. Realistic means reasonable and benevolent means kind-hearted.The word obvious has the opposite meaning of the word you need. Only correct answers abstruse and obscure, both of which mean hard to grasp, produce appropriate, equivalent sentences.
The legitimacy of a fledgling political party is highly dependent on the decorum of its members, since the _______ behavior of any one person can be used to disparage an entire movement.
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Solution
( B. debauched , D. profligate )
The behavior being described is used to disparage the movement, so it must be inappropriate behavior. Reticent means reserved or shy, so choice (C) is incorrect. Garrulous means talkative and cogent means convincing, but there are no clues to support these choices.Capricious is often used with a negative connotation and means impulsive or unpredictable. Debauched and profligate both mean disregarding social or moral correctness, which makes them the two best answers that produce equivalent, appropriate sentences.
Consider the _______ of the nature of war, the outcome of which can hardly be considered favorable even for those who emerge victorious.
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Solution
( A. enormity , E. depravity )
The first of two trigger words, hardly, tells you that the outcome of war is not favorable, the clue word. The other trigger is even; you would expect a good outcome for the victors, but this is not the case here and so the nature of war must be very bad. In choice (F), hegemony relates to war but the clue does not support a word that means domination. Choice (D) means strict or stern, but is also not a match for the clue. Choice (C) refers to pompous use of language, and choice (B) means a public display or discourse. Both should be eliminated. The correct answers, choices (A) and (E), mean evil or baseness.