Directions: For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text.
Question 1
Rich found the chance shift in the path of the storm (i)________, as he was hoping to use the excuse of heavy weather to (ii)________ more much needed time. With the deadline (iii)________ and his credibility on the line, he will have to find a way to get the presentation done.
Question 2
The defense attorney’s _______ closing statement was not enough to sway the jurors in his client’s favor; stirring words could not conceal the defendant’s evident guilt.
Question 3
A recent Harris Poll indicated that many professions have seen a decline in their (i)________over the past several years; teaching, in contrast, has (ii)________ more respect over the same time period.
Question 4
In 1770s colonial New England, Puritans _______ the celebration of Christmas, which they considered to be an odious reminder of the Pope’s tyranny.
Question 5
The thin (i)________ that lines the interior of an eggshell is (ii)________, and this is the reason using salt water to boil an egg can make the egg taste salty. For the same reason, it is important not to store eggs in the refrigerator with uncovered, strong-smelling food items since the scents can (iii)________ the egg, causing it to taste bad.
Question 6
Many dog owners treat their pets too _______, forgetting that canines have evolved in competitive environments in which emotional coddling was a sign of weakness.
Question 7
As part of Marina Abramović’s groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the artist herself logged 700 hours over the course of 3 months in a small chair. Visitors were invited to sit across from the performance artist’s stolid countenance, for whatever (i)________ they desired, the (ii)________ sitting for only a few moments and the bold sitting for several hours; the visitors thus became (iii)________ components of the
piece, wittingly or unwittingly.
Question 8
Repulsed by _______ employees, the executive informed his staff that he preferred constructive criticism to calculated flattery.
Question 9
Students may consider modernist works such as James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake to be more _______ than Victorian prose: Victorian narratives are linear and predictable, while Joyce’s tortuous plots are fragmented and fickle, and they confound the reader.
Question 10
It struck Professor Steele as (i)_________ that the eighteenth-century Bavarians devoted such effort to building houses of worship because at the same time, the rest of Europe’s religious fervor was (ii)_________, while movements such as nihilism gained steam.
Question 11
Ancient generals, lacking modern technologies such as radio and satellite communication, often found that one of the most significant challenges in warfare was accurate _______ of the myriad of changes on the battlefield or in the campaign.
Question 12
In psychological literature, the “sleeper effect” refers to the phenomenon in which a persuasive message from a trustworthy source loses _______ over time, while the efficacy of a message from a less credible source simultaneously increases.
Question 13
Pundits do not believe that the sporadic calls for her ouster—outcries spurred by both her unusual lifestyle and social policies—have compelled the monarch to seriously consider _______.
Question 14
For some time, scientists refused to believe that Earth’s continents are made of moving tectonic plates. Physicists, who could not devise a theory to explain the now-accepted process, rejected the theory outright, as did geologists, who were far too (i)________ in their thinking, thereby (ii)________ the advancement of science for a time.
Question 15
E.L. Doctorow argues that the role of artists in the 21st century is to provide a reminder that even in (i)________ world, one thing is (ii)________: America will always be a nation of (iii)________ free expression.
