Unlike the politician’s earlier evasions and equivocations, this latest statement is a _________ lie.
-
Solution
Bald, overt.
The earlier “evasions and equivocations” are ways to avoid a question or “flip-flop” on an issue. This “latest statement” is “unlike” the evasions and equivocations because it is an explicit, clear, or obvious lie. Bald and overt are the only matches. Note the trap answers tacit and implicit, which are synonyms that mean the exact opposite (“hinted at, unspoken”) of what you need.
Nothing evoked memories of her grandmother’s house like the _________ of scents associated with the holiday feast.
-
Solution
Olio, mélange.
If it’s a feast, there are many different foods involved — thus, you need a word that means “mixture” or “multitude.” Olio and mélange both mean “mixture” or “medley.”
After a long, hard practice in the summer sun, the players were visibly _________.
-
Solution
Flagging, enervated.
After a long, hard practice in hot weather, naturally the players would be tired. Flagging and enervated are the only choices that mean “tired.”
The exhibit is not so much a retrospective as a _________; the artist’s weaker early work is glossed over, and any evidence of his ultimate dissolution is absent entirely.
-
Solution
Paean, eulogy.
A retrospective would be an exhibit that shows the history and progression of the artist’s work, but this exhibit only shows the good parts (it “glosses over” the weaker work and omits the artist’s “dissolution”). Thus, you need a word that has something to do with “praising.” Paean and eulogy are the only matches. Note that a paean is generally a song or speech of praise and is being used a bit metaphorically here. Many people only know eulogy as a speech given at a funeral, but can actually refer to any speech (or in this case, art exhibit) of praise.
A field trip was arranged so that this troupe of _________ dancers could observe the real masters of their art.
-
Solution
Fledgling, novice.
You need answers that relate to being beginners (or at least not “masters”). Fledgling and novice both mean “inexperienced.”
The daily routine of responding to lobbyists and exchanging polemics with intransigent political opponents seemed at odds with the president’s _________ tendencies.
-
Solution
Idealistic, quixotic.
Daily arguments with opponents who won’t change their mind and dealing with people who make demands are likely to make someone more realistic about the limited prospects of accomplishing something, or less idealistic and quixotic, which are synonyms. Arguing with others is not likely to make someone less contentious or dialectical, but more so. And nothing here implies that the president’s policies are altruistic or that he is particularly tenacious. Alternatively, you can look at the answer choices. Idealistic and quixotic form one pair, and dialectical and contentious form another, so one of those pairs has to be the right answer.
Forty years ago, anthropologists firmly believed that Neanderthals and modern homo sapiens never mated, but advances in genetic testing proved that incorrect — such is the _________ nature of science.
-
Solution
Evolving, advancing.
Sometimes a seeming theme trap (evolving) is not a trap — this sentence is literally about evolution, and also uses evolving as a metaphor. Fallacious and counterfactual is an incorrect pair that reflects misunderstanding the sentence, which certainly doesn’t say that all science is wrong, just that it is its nature to constantly revise in the face of new information.
Emblematic of the slaughter of the First World War, 60,000 British soldiers died for naught on the first day of the battle of the Somme, literally consumed into a stew of blood and _________.
-
Solution
Gore, carnage.
While many of the words make sense, the words slaughter and blood demand the correct pair. Grief and anguish are an incorrect pair (grief is especially weird — generally, other people experience grief after someone dies, rather than a person feeling grief over his own violent death).
James Joyce, the author of many novels, including Lady Chatterley’s Lover, saw deeply into the hearts of his characters, but, in a life irony as subtle yet piercing as those endured by his characters, he himself could barely _________ text well enough to proof his own galleys.
-
Solution
See, distinguish.
This sentence is worded in a tricky way, as the pivot words but and barely negate each other. Thus, the blank parallels the clue “saw deeply.” (Proof here means “proofread” or “edit,” and galleys are “drafts of a book about to be published.”) How ironic that an author who sees into the hearts of his characters is practically blind in real life! Interpret is an attractive trap, but Joyce had a vision problem, not an intellectual one.
While the colonists would eventually push westward, first, they were in for a long, difficult winter, and the main challenge was to _________ their existing resources.
-
Solution
Steward, husband.
The “while” tells you that the second part of the sentence will contrast with pushing forward — due to the approaching winter, the colonists need to stay put and conserve what they have. Only steward and husband mean this. Sell and peddle don’t work because there’s nothing in the sentence to indicate commerce or contrast with it (and why would you sell your resources when a hard winter is coming?) Note that procure, which means “get” or “acquire,” doesn’t work because of the word existing.