Text Completion Drill #3

1. Male ostriches are extremely -------: they can be perceived by the human eye at a distance of 900 meters.

A. swift
B. aggressive
C. cumbersome
D. conspicuous
E. raucous

2. Business letters are largely -------, conveying unadorned information in a clear and concise manner.

A. functional
B. patronizing
C. superfluous
D. opaque
E. individualistic

3. The ------- between the mayor's idealistic speeches and his reprehensible conduct led his constituents to ------- his claim to be a true reformer.

A. tension . . endorse
B. discrepancy . . disparage
C. contradiction . . vindicate
D. resemblance . . mimic
E. parallelism . . undermine

4. Ayn Rand can be considered a ------- novelist; her ------- ideas have provoked irate rebuttal from her philosophical opponents.

A. polemical . . controversial
B. charismatic . . fulsome
C. visionary . . traditional
D. soporific . . hackneyed
E. savvy . . ingenuous

5. The exterminators ------- increased the fire ant population by using a pesticide that killed a natural predator of the species.

A. inadvertently
B. auspiciously
C. unsuccessfully
D. tediously
E. ideally

6. During her interview with local students, the dignitary exchanged her ------- public manner for a friendlier, less pretentious one.

A. lofty
B. modest
C. gushing
D. amicable
E. precocious

7. Dine (Navajo) weavers have been ------- in their use of design, drawing on ------- motifs as well as on motifs from Spain, Asia, and other parts of the world.

A. artful . . foreign
B. antagonistic . . stereotypical
C. comprehensive . . distant
D. eclectic . . indigenous
E. pedestrian . . exotic

8. Through the years, financial misfortunes and personal tragedies turned his early cynicism into hardened -------.

A. sentimentality
B. bitterness
C. blitheness
D. ambivalence
E. optimism

9. Situated so close to the riverbank, the archaeological site is in danger of ------- when the new dam is built.

A. inundation
B. implementation
C. fortification
D. revival
E. expansion

10. The lemur is little studied because it is nocturnal and dwells in an extremely rainy region, factors that ------- most researchers.

A. interest
B. perplex
C. discourage
D. unite
E. overtake

11. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, only philosophy can provide ------- understanding because it ------- assumptions that other areas of study merely take for granted.

A. faulty . . probes
B. reliable . . concedes
C. genuine . . scrutinizes
D. abstract . . lauds
E. veiled . . divulges

12. The child was stung by the adult's sharp reprimand; no one had ever ------- her that way before.

A. invoked
B. rebuked
C. galvanized
D. evaded
E. humored

13. Before the truth-in-advertising regulations were put into effect, some automobile companies went beyond making vaguely misleading claims and resorted to blatant -------.

A. disrespect
B. shabbiness
C. unconventionality
D. deception
E. selectivity

14. Whereas Jean Rhys's work bristles with an electrifying, ------- rage against all humanity, Anita Brookner's fiction is ------- and more life-affirming.

A. silent . . quieter
B. savage . . calmer
C. passionate . . fiercer
D. controlled . . angry
E. angry . . crushing

15. Sixteenth-century Spanish rulers saw themselves as champions of -------: trifling with tradition was not permitted in matters of faith or politics.

A. refinement
B. philanthropy
C. orthodoxy
D. licentiousness
E. versatility