Text Completion Exercise

1. The singular headgear of the London policeman is as _____ a symbol of that city as its
buildings and monuments.
A. Ancient
B. Comprehensive
C. Distinctive
D. Noble
E. Portentous
2. The value of the shares in the shipping company continued to plummet, yet the major
stockholder believed that in the long term the shares value would not ___ .
A. Increase
C. Impute
E. Compute
B. Accrue
D. Abate
3. Despite having arranged an award winning rendition of the song, the glee club was forced to
(i) ___ the competition when travel costs proved (ii) ___
Blank (i)
Forgo
Recant
Vindicate

Blank (ii)
Short sighted
Prohibitive
Pervasive

4. This poetry is not ___ ; it is more likely to appeal to an international audience than is poetry
with strictly regional themes.
A. Familiar
C. Technical
E. Provincial
B. Democratic
D. Complex
5. The newly discovered genus of arachnids in distinguished from its close relatives by its (i)
___ silk, which produces web so fine, they are all but invisible to the naked eye. However, the
webs having (ii) ___ strength and are capable of standing up to the thrashing of larger prey
such as dragonflies.
Blank (i)
Adamantine
Frangible
Gossamer

Blank (ii)
Architectural
Tensile
Attenuated

6. Calorie restriction through a diverse vegetarian diet has been demonstrated to (i) ___ life
expectancy and improve cardiac health; nevertheless, physicians prescribing this lifestyle
change must consider the potentially detrimental effects of such (ii) ___ regimen on the
overall quality of life.
Blank (i)
Degrade
Augment
Facilitate

Blank (ii)
An austere
A convoluted
A primordial

7. The physicists conclusions are utterly (i) ___, given that his work fails to conform to or even
acknowledge established scientific (ii) ___ . Furthermore, he (iii) ___ no living authorities in
the creation of work.
Blank (i)
Ambiguous

Blank (ii)
Camaraderie

Blank (iii)
Castigated

Proficient
Heretical

Complacency
Orthodoxy

Contradicted
Consulted

8. At the Brocken, the tallest of Germanys Harz Mountains, travelers have reported seeing
gigantic human figures in the sky that are actually the observers themselves, reflected and ___
by water droplets in the atmosphere.
A. Degraded
C. Obfuscated
E. Magnified
B. Denigrated
D. Protected
9. Disagreement over the appropriate use of force has been one of the consistent issues in the
international relations over time; therefore, it may be presumptuous to suggest that current
international disagreements over the use of force are ___ .
A. Spurious
C. Relevant
E. Irresolvable
B. Unique
D. Perennial
10. One member of the advertising partnership quit and demanded an (i) ___ monetary
settlement, even though his contributions to the firm were minimal. Therefore, the other
partners hired an impartial mediator to (ii) ___ a fairer settlement.
Blank (i)
Inordinate
Audible
Equitable

Blank (ii)
Calculate
Impose
Arbitrate

11. Winsor McCay, the cartoonist, could draw with incredible ___; his comic strip about Little
Nemo was characterized by marvelous draftsmanship and sequencing.
A. Sincerity
C. Virtuosity
E. Energy
B. Efficiency
D. Rapidity
12. The complexities of the Internet introduce (i) ___ complexity into an international law;
because it is a host to the Internets universally used central servers, the United States must
consider that cessation of service due to manipulation of servers within American borders
would amount to a potential (ii) ___ of other nations rights.
Blank (i)
A commensurate
An erroneous
An equivocal

Blank (ii)
Dissolution
Augmentation
Abrogation

13. More than any other invention, the compass (i) ___ European exploration. Invented by the
Chinese, who used the tool on trips across the desert, the compass made it possible for
travelers to (ii) ___ the direction of north, thereby orienting themselves. When European
sailors were armed with this navigational device, the vast, unknown Atlantic seemed more
(iii) ___ to them.
Blank (i)
Obstructed
Encouraged
Elucidated

Blank (ii)
Estimate
Determine
Infer

Blank (iii)
Negotiable
Navigable
Nautical

14. The unanimous (i) ___ of the original theory by reviews forced the group of scientists to (ii)
___ reconsider their methods, and they ultimately (iii) ___ their former conclusions and began
a new course of investigation.

Blank (i)
Acknowledgement
Dismissal
Omission

Blank (ii)
Radically
Inadvertently
Gingerly

Blank (iii)
Validated
Rescinded
Combined

15. When a single experiment yielded findings dramatically different from those of previous
similar experiments, and further research did not duplicate the new findings, the scientists
decided the result must me ___ .
A. A revelation
B. A contraction
C. An iteration
D. An aberration
E. A confirmation
16. As her first (i) ___ into space neared, the young astronaut took a moment to think back on
how she had gotten where she was; her successes in life were not without struggle. Her family
was rich in love and support but absolutely (ii) ___ when it came to worldly goods.
Blank (i)
Peregrination
Digression
Cavalcade

Blank (ii)
Mendacious
Destitute
Flippant

17. The significance of the Magna Carta lies not in its ___ provisions, but in its broader impact: it
made the king subject to the law.
A. Specific
B. Revolutionary
C. Implicit
D. Controversial
E. Finite
18. The senators reputation, though (i) ___ by false allegations of misconduct, emerged from the
ordeal (ii) ___ .
Blank (i)
Destroyed
Shaken
Impugned

Blank (ii)
Unscathed
Intact
Impaired

19. It has been (i) ___ for members of Lysettes fathers family to enter medical school upon
graduation from college for more than a century. She (ii) ___ tradition when, rather than
follow in her familys footsteps, she joined the Peace Corps, to the intense (iii) ___ of her
parents.
Blank (i)
Forbidden
Customary
Irregular

Blank (ii)
Abjured
Despised
Honored

Blank (iii)
Castigation
Vexation
Hesitation

20. Employees were divided on the effectiveness of the new managers (i) ___ manner; while
some praised the fact that he moved (ii) ___ when making a decision, others believed he did
not take enough time to carefully consider all the options.

Blank (i)
Incisive
Affable
Capricious

Blank (ii)
Surreptitiously
Expeditiously
Languidly

21. The rumor that was (i) ___ on campus about 400 level exams for all disciplines being
changed to oral defense was difficult for upper class students to believe, but the overly (ii)
___ first year students were easily led to believe such implausible stories. Their apprehension
over the possible change was (iii) ___, however, as the rumored changes would not apply to
them or to any of the classes they were taking.
Blank (i)
Blank (ii)
Blank (iii)
Undisclosed
Credulous
Unwarranted
Propagated
Discriminating
Formidable
Pronounced
Docile
Hallowed
22. Even though he was neither explicitly asked nor ordered to do so, Lucis still took (i) ___ the
(ii) ___ that he should alter his libretto. He was more interested in maintaining complete
control over his art than in mitigating the potential public controversy caused by his (iii) ___
work.
Blank (i)
Vindication from
Satisfaction from
Umbrage at

Blank (ii)
Prohibition
Stipulation
Insinuation

Blank (iii)
Incendiary
Lugubrious
Ersatz

23. Under ethical guidelines recently adopted by the National Institutes of Health, human genes
are to be manipulated only to correct diseases for which ___ treatments are unsatisfactory.
A. Similar
B. Most
C. Dangerous
D. Uncommon
E. Alternative
24. It was her view that the countrys problems had been ___ by foreign technocrats, so that to
invite them to come back would be counterproductive.
A. Foreseen
B. Attacked
C. Ascertained
D. Exacerbated
E. Analyzed
25. The theory of cosmic evolution states that the universe, having begun in a state of simplicity
and (i) ___, has (ii) ___ into great variety.
Blank (i)
Equilibrium
Intelligibility
Homogeneity

Blank (ii)
Modulated
Differentiated
Developed