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PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Choose the best vocabulary word to fill the blank. Circle your choices or write your answers on a separate
piece of paper. Then compare your selections to the correct answers at the end of the chapter.

1. The _____________ president differs from the past president on healthcare reform issues.
a. talkative
b. accomplished
c. artificial
d. incumbent

2. The _____________ data supports the belief that there has been an increase in population in the county.
a. nominal
b. demographic
c. practical
d. nocturnal

3. The _____________ collected from real estate taxes helped to balance the town budget.
a. domain
b. remainder
c. revenue
d. assessment

4. She pretended to be _____________ about the new job opportunity, but secretly she was very excited.
a. dedicated
b. receptive
c. candid
d. blasé

5. We were tired when we reached the _____________, but the spectacular


view of the valley below was worth the hike.
a. circumference
b. summit
c. fulcrum
d. nadir

6. The suit had a(n) _____________ odor, as if it had been stored in a trunk for
a long time.
a. aged
b. scented
c. musty
d. decrepit

7. Because his workplace was so busy and noisy, he longed most of all for
_____________.
a. solitude
b. association
c. loneliness
d. irrelevancy

8. The teacher put the crayons on the bottom shelf to make them _____________ to the young children.
a. accessible
b. receptive
c. eloquent
d. ambiguous

9. My computer was state-of-the-art when I bought it three years ago, but now it is _____________.
a. current
b. dedicated
c. unnecessary
d. outmoded

10. Visiting all the tea shops in the city, they were on a _____________ to find
the perfect cup of tea.
a. surge
b. quest
c. discovery
d. cadence

11. Make sure the directions are very explicit so that no one makes a mistake.
Explicit means
a. intricate, complex.
b. clearly and fully stated.
c. chronologically ordered.
d. ambiguous or implied.

12. The hotel is teeming with security personnel because the leaders of several
countries are here for a summit meeting. Teem means
a. to close down temporarily.
b. to lose business due to circumstances beyond one’s control.
c. to be full of, nearly overflowing.
d. to be under close scrutiny.

13. Karen was relieved to learn that the chemicals in her well water were all
benign. Benign means
a. natural.
b. dangerous.
c. of local origin.
d. harmless.

14. Although it was futile because he didn’t meet half of the requirements,
Jensen applied for the job anyway because it was his dream position. Futile
means
a. useless.
b. fruitful.
c. radical.
d. insane.

15. The editor, preferring a more terse writing style, cut 500 words from the
2,000-word article. Terse means
a. elegant.
b. factual.
c. descriptive.
d. concise.
16. Victor Frankenstein spent the last years of his life chasing his elusive monster,
who was always one step of his creator. Elusive means
a. difficult to compare.
b. difficult to capture.
c. difficult to forget.
d. difficult to avoid.

17. Xiu’s timely joke served to diffuse the tension in the room, and the rest of
the meeting was highly productive. Diffuse means
a. to refuse.
b. to intensify.
c. to create.
d. to soften.

18. I completely lost track of Tula’s point because she kept digressing to unrelated
topics. Digress means
a. to deviate, stray.
b. to regress, revert.
c. to change the tone.
d. to express concisely.

19. The senator evaded the question by changing the subject and accusing his
opponent of misconduct. Evade means
a. to escape or elude.
b. to answer indirectly.
c. to refuse to answer directly.
d. to deceive.

20. Samantha hasn’t said why she’s been so withdrawn lately, but I would surmise
that it is because she is still upset about not being able to go to camp.
Surmise means
a. to confirm.
b. to surprise.
c. to believe.
d. to guess.

21. Their conversation was considered playful _______ between two old
friends.
a. antics
b. banter
c. behavior
d. activities

22. He tried to ______________ the sinking morale of his friend in the hospital.
a. sustain
b. foster
c. bolster
d. nourish
ANSWERS
How did you do on identifying context clues? Check your answers here, and then
analyze the results to figure out your plan of attack for mastering this topic.

1. d. Incumbent means holding any post or position.

2. b. Demographic data is the branch of research that deals with human populations.

3. c. Revenue is the income of a government.

4. d. Blasé means bored or unimpressed by things after having seen or experienced them too often.

5. b. The summit means the highest point, where the hikers would have a good view.

6. c. A musty odor is one that is stale or moldy.

7. a. Solitude, unlike loneliness, can be a desirable thing, and it would be something a person who works in a
busy office would crave.

8. a. Accessible means capable of being reached or being within easy reach.

9. d. Outmoded means no longer in style or no longer usable.

10. b. A quest is a search or pursuit of something, in this case for the perfect cup of tea.

11. b. Explicit means clearly and fully stated; straightforward, exact. The context tells you that the directions
need to be clear to prevent an error. If the directions are clearly and fully stated, it will help ensure that no
one makes a mistake.

12. c. To teem means to be full of, to be present in large numbers. Numerous security personnel typically
surround the leader of a country. If there is a meeting of several foreign leaders, there is likely to be a great
number of security officers in the hotel.

13. d. Benign means not harmful or malignant; gentle, mild, having a beneficial effect. Choice d is the only
answer that makes sense in the context of the sentence; Karen would logically be worried about chemicals in
her water and relieved if she learned those chemicals were harmless.

14. a. Futile means useless, producing no result, hopeless, vain. Jensen’s application is useless because he
does not meet the minimum requirements for the job.

15. d. Terse means concise, using no unnecessary words. The main clue is that the editor cut the article by
25%, dramatically reducing its wordiness.

16. b. Elusive means evasive, eluding the grasp; difficult to capture. The sentence tells you that Dr.
Frankenstein was never able to catch the creature, who constantly escaped his grasp.

17. d. To diffuse means to spread throughout, disperse; to soften or make less brilliant. Xiu’s joke softened
the tension so that the meeting could be more productive.

18. a. To digress means to turn aside, deviate; to stray from the main subject in writing or speaking. The
speaker loses track of the point because Tula keeps shifting from the main topic to unrelated subjects.
19. a. To evade means to elude or avoid by cleverness or deceit; to avoid fulfilling, answering, or doing. The
senator avoids answering the question by changing the subject.

20. d. To surmise means to form a notion from scanty evidence. The narrator is guessing that Samantha has
been withdrawn because she is upset about not being able to go to camp.

21. b. Banter is defined as remarks or talk that is playful and teasing. Choice a is incorrect because antics are
unpredictable behavior or actions. Choices c) and d) are incorrect because their definitions are too broad and
do not focus on conversation.

22. c. If the friend has a “sinking morale,” this means that the friend’s feelings or attitude are overwhelmed
or defeated. The speaker would, thus, want to raise or bolster this morale. Choice a, b, and d are all
incorrect. The speaker would not want his friend’s morale to continue to sink.

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