A. abstract
B. complacent
C. ambiguous
D. unfamiliar
E. overblown
2. Reading chunks of Shapiro's verse in one sitting, it must be said, exposes the _____ nature of his writing: scads of poems are too glancing to strike a nerve, scarcely worth a second reading.
A. jejune
B. esoteric
C. corrosive
D. finicky
F. indiscreet
3. So perhaps the lesson is that rather than wanting their monarchy to (i)_____its modernized Scandinavian counterparts, the British public cherishes it most when it is most (ii)_____·
Blank(i) | Blank(ii) |
discount | egalitarian |
emulate | anachronistic |
commend | regal |
A. stoicism
B. fastidiousness
C. congeniality
D. drollness
E. pensiveness
5. Regardless of the putative decline of (i)____in contemporary culture, such (ii)_______remains essential to civil discourse. It allows people to avoid embarrassing or maligning an adversary and it serves as a form of irony that draws attention to a problem that can scarcely be exaggerated.
Blank(i) | Blank(ii) |
understatement | inventiveness |
originality | objectivity |
partisanship | restraint |
Blank(i) | Blank(ii) | Blank(iii) |
ignore | swayed by | grouchiness |
credit | unaware of | probity |
dismiss | learning about | creativity |
A. copious;
B. overwhelming
C. abundant
D. meager
E. paltry
F. uncertain
8. As a way of ____the negative impacts of overdependence on a single export product --crude oil--the Nigerian government passed legislation in 1999 intended to revitalize the moribund solid minerals sector.
A. assuming
B. checking
C. disguising
D. stemming
E. downplaying
F. shouldering
9. Although the claim that no one knows what dark matter is remains ____,some scientists dispute the parallel assertion that dark matter has not been detected.
A. contentious
B. sound
C. questionable
D. unassailable
E. unverifiable
F. prominent
10. Appearing in the midst of so many equivocal comments, this unambiguous statement, whatever its intrinsic merit, plainly stands out as____.
A. anomalous
B. arcane
C. irrelevant
D. superfluous
E. unusual
F. esoteric