Easy

1. The committee's decision to fund the controversial art project was not _____; it was a
deliberate stance to endorse works that challenge societal norms.
(A) mundane
(B) arbitrary
(C) intentional
(D) predictable
(E) expedient
2. The economic theorist’s proposal was met with skepticism as it promised a solution to
inflation without causing _______ in the job market, a result many considered too
sanguine.
(A) disruptions
(B) opportunities
(C) escalations
(D) stability
(E) affinities
3. The moniker “worker bees” is not a misnomer: these insects are undoubtedly among the
most _____ in the animal kingdom.
(A) headstrong
(B) intrepid
(C) powerful
(D) industrious
(E) nettlesome
4. Lineage-based monarchies are a precarious gamble; a king's son might be entirely
_____ or highly competent.
(A) apposite
(B) implacable
(C) lonely
(D) congenial
(E) feckless
5. The rogue nation took the highly _____ action of situating its nuclear missiles a mere
400 miles off the coast of its greatest rival.
(A) provocative
(B) opaque
(C) feckless
(D) tranquil
(E) superficial
6. In the summer, the town is _____ tourists from near and afar, and vendors capitalize
on the increased demand to hawk their wares at inflated prices.
(A) amused by
(B) wary of
(C) teeming with
(D) noticed by
(E) vigilant toward

Medium
7. Despite the overwhelming evidence of 12. The “King of Kings” preferred to surround
climate change, a small faction of scientists himself with sycophants, those who heaped
remains ______, refusing to acknowledge the ________ praise on the monarch irrespective
consensus in the wider scientific community. of his ability.
(A) jocund (A) limited
(B) harmonious (B) tempered
(C) volatile (C) effusive
(D) intransigent (D) disinterested
(E) frightened (E) ephemeral
8. The artist's work is characterized by a 13. Fortunately for Marius – during his
_____of form and content, with each aspect seventh and final consulship – he died of
meticulously crafted to enhance the other. natural causes before Sulla had an opportunity
(A) highlighting to violently _____ him.
(B) regression (A) forsake
(C) discordance (B) venerate
(D) symbiosis (C) depose
(E) reiteration (D) tout
9. The once dominant political party, now (E) avoid
struggling to maintain relevance, finds itself at 14. One cannot ascribe his political
a crossroads, its principles appearing indifference to the tedious _____ of the
increasingly _______ in the context of country's founders; the Constitution, for
modern issues. instance, a document on which the entire
(A) contemporaneous government rests, has fewer than 10,000
(B) skittish words.
(C) resonant (A) hysterics
(D) hapless (B) arrogance
(E) anachronistic (C) lucidity
10. Because of Ernest's well-known and (D) volubility
frankly well-deserved reputation for depravity,
(E) obeisance
his vehement defense of his sister's actions
15. Adolescence has its perquisites; true, a
accomplished nothing more than further
child is often _____ by controlling parents,
_____ the family name.
but she has yet to incur any financial
(A) veiling
responsibility or significant failure at that age.
(B) galvanizing
(A) obscured
(C) burnishing
(B) replenished
(D) expanding
(C) evaded
(E) marring
(D) shirked
11. In Silicon Valley, ________ company
(E) checked
securing millions of dollars in financing would
16. Because of its _____ of toppings, the
turn few heads, the industry prizing novelty as
“everything” bagel is preferred by many over its
much as it does; however, hundreds of millions
comparatively spartan, uniformly-topped
of dollars in funding would not go unnoticed.
brethren.
(A) a sheltered
(A) unpredictability
(B) a well-managed
(B) scarcity
(C) an irrelevant
(C) melange
(D) an inchoate
(D) separation
(E) a complacent
(E) improvisation
 .

17. The government’s system of checks and 22. Josephine's _____ managerial style
balances is jeopardized when the legislature leads to fewer mistakes from employees but
refuses to ________ the power of the also bridles their development since they have
executive branch. so little autonomy.
(A) tolerate (A) spurious
(B) canonize (B) officious
(C) squander (C) extemporized
(D) encourage (D) tactful
(E) curtail (E) modish
18. Decades of experience repeatedly 23. According to the pioneering study, plane
illustrated the importance of a cool head during crashes often were the result of subordinate
times of crisis; thus, the US Navy places only officers, despite conviction in their judgment,
the most _____ in a ship’s engine room. being too afraid to _____ their superiors.
(A) merciful (A) condone
(B) industrious (B) gainsay
(C) haughty (C) extol
(D) adaptable (D) wheedle
(E) imperturbable (E) impress
19. Most people at the party understood Jane 24. The matter was _____; unfortunately,
was sanctimonious; still, they were surprised at the committee still talked at length about its
her _____ attitude. seeming implications.
(A) smug (A) hilarious
(B) guarded (B) pertinent
(C) unique (C) trifling
(D) pliant (D) consequential
(E) implacable (E) polarizing
20. To secure a higher salary, Zach told 25. The film is a meager 77 minutes long, but
management he's ready for additional the _____ director has infused the scenes and
responsibility, though his shaky voice and characters with such exquisite detail that few
general hesitancy seemed to _____ that will complain about its runtime.
claim. (A) exotic
(A) buttress (B) sedulous
(B) demur (C) guarded
(C) endow (D) pretentious
(D) belie (E) derivative
(E) reflect 26. The organization put little stock in the
21. Understanding that a pristine image is a particulars of each student, instead treating
pillar of the respect afforded monarchy, the the contingent as _____ commodity.
prince never steps out in anything but _____ (A) a picayune
dress. (B) an uninterested
(A) austere (C) an obedient
(B) utilitarian (D) a peculiar
(C) pretentious (E) a fungible
(D) immaculate
(E) clashing
27. _____ bureaucracy has made 32. The secret to his politics is he kept everyone
it all but impossible to secure hoping and gave them no promises, for he was _____
government grants, paperwork and never committed himself.
endlessly shuffled from one (A) courageous
department to the next. (B) rapacious
(A) Byzantine (C) peculiar
(B) Bogus (D) circumspect
(C) Banal (E) obliging
(D) Boisterous 33. His mother was _____ social and particularly
(E) Baroque fond of the society of intellectuals, so much so that
28. Great comedians, oft guests were always disappointed when she was
considered the philosophers of our absent from gatherings.
time, couch their profound musings (A) petulantly
in _____ quips. (B) eminently
(A) direful (C) subtly
(B) facetious (D) arbitrarily
(C) serene (E) prudently
(D) pedantic 34. There is not any etymological connection
(E) innate between the words boy and brave, but there is an
29. Wily negotiators proffer association of ideas, which if it does not make the
_____ deals, knowing the other terms _____, is still strongly suggestive of their
side will not quite go that far but being one and the same.
still agree to favorable terms. (A) distinct
(A) audacious (B) misleading
(B) modest (C) interchangeable
(C) prescient (D) trivial
(D) puzzling (E) fallacious
(E) suitable 35. Jean-Marc contends that _____ realigning the
30. Politicians today are bent on economic order would do little to undo the pernicious
_____ trade protectionism that effects of capitalism; in his view, a rapid and
harkens back to an earlier age. wholesale reckoning is necessary.
(A) ineffectual (A) unethically
(B) tacit (B) contentiously
(C) delirious (C) gingerly
(D) atavistic (D) laudably
(E) nimble (E) gleefully
31. After the death of the emperor, 36. Morrison argues that economic prosperity,
whose cruelties had long revolted however widely _____, will not extinguish crime.
his subjects, the heat of persecution Many people imagine that all the evils afflicting
began to _____. society spring from want, but this is only partially
(A) emerge true.
(B) pounce (A) centralized
(C) wax (B) diffused
(D) abate (C) obscured
(E) arrive (D) divulged
(E) concentrated
 Hard
37. The philosopher's latest treatise on ethics 42. As a child, Ruth was exceedingly shy;
attempts to reconcile the ostensibly ______ even to this day, her character has _______
doctrines of utilitarianism and deontological quality to it that perplexes people.
ethics, arguing for a nuanced synthesis. (A) a quixotic
(A) inchoate (B) an impolite
(B) incompatible (C) a soporific
(C) utopian (D) an unassuming
(D) didactic (E) an iconoclastic
(E) intellectual 43. Only out of love for her husband is Isabel
38. In her latest novel, the author explores the able to countenance his proclivity for the
concept of nostalgia, not as a mere sentimental _______ durian, a fruit so pungent that it is
longing, but as a _______ that shapes our banned from airplanes and other confined
present identity and aspirations. spaces.
(A) quantum leap (A) robust
(B) force majeure (B) malevolent
(C) mechanical reaction (C) noxious
(D) casual happenstance (D) noisome
(E) fleeting impulse (E) unsightly
39. Critics of the proposed urban development 44. Wade's _______ appearance makes it
plan warn that it might lead to ________ difficult to be taken seriously in a corporate
gentrification, exacerbating socioeconomic world that equates attractiveness with
disparities rather than alleviating them. brainlessness.
(A) ill-informed (A) industrious
(B) spontaneous (B) dowdy
(C) insidious (C) disheveled
(D) extenuating (D) winsome
(E) organic (E) bashful
40. The biographer's approach to the subject's 45. It was Gertrude's contention that society
early life was hardly ________, eschewing a not seek its quixotic, even _____, reveries,
conventionally linear narrative in favor of a when so many of the world's more practical
thematic exploration of formative experiences. realities remain unsolved.
(A) chronological (A) levelheaded
(B) perfunctory
(B) ominous
(C) unorthodox
(C) futile
(D) simplistic
(D) esoteric
(E) feasible
(E) accessible
41. The new curriculum aims to cultivate
46. The statue unveiled today to
students' critical thinking skills, rather than
commemorate fashion icon Roy Shaw is
encourage rote memorization, which is often
anything but ______, which is ironic given
_______ to genuine understanding
the marked flamboyance with which he lived
(A) integral
his life.
(B) devoted
(A) humdrum
(C) antithetical
(B) futuristic
(D) conducive
(C) arresting
(E) ancillary
(D) impetuous
(E) redundant
47. Perhaps Chris’ greatest skill is his 52. Not at all _______ national security, homegrown
ability to affect an air of _____ in his semi-conductor manufacture is being developed or boosted
stressful position; those who know him in many countries to avoid reliance on outside production.
best, however, sense his restiveness. (A) incidental to
(A) serendipity (B) inclined toward
(B) contempt (C) proficient in
(C) tedium (D) exigent for
(D) edginess (E) prudent for
(E) phlegm 53. Devilishly clever but wholly unethical, Samuel has a
48. Only by presenting substantial habit of ______ teams of which he is part in the hope that
evidence to the contrary – in a non- his superiors, noting the team’s dysfunction, will elect a new
confrontational manner – was William project leader: Samuel himself.
able to ________ his partner of her (A) undervaluing
spurious beliefs. (B) underestimating
(A) enchant (C) underpinning
(B) chastise (D) undercutting
(C) disabuse (E) underscoring
(D) burnish 54. A Roman emperor in need of cash had few reservations
(E) fool ______ the property of elites, even if he once counted
49. The CEO demanded he be apprised himself amongst them.
of all happenings within the company, a (A) aggrandizing
task his subordinates found _______ (B) accentuating
due to the its massive size. (C) appropriating
(A) painstaking (D) abrogating
(B) tenable (E) abhorring
(C) expedient 55. Alfonso was determined to _____ the power of the
(D) mundane bishops, in spite of his previous oath of allegiance.
(E) preposterous (A) bridle
50. Few will miss the sarcasm and (B) brook
mockery inherent in his work, but its (C) tout
_____ does infuse the prose with a (D) goad
certain charm that makes it difficult to (E) recant
put the book down. 56. A striking trait in the character of the Highlanders was
(A) exoticism their devoted attachment to their own regiments and
(B) acerbity officers. When clanship had all but died out in the North, it
(C) equanimity was found ______ among the southern Highland soldiers.
(D) profundity (A) lacking
(E) bravado (B) languishing
51. Even though the revolutionaries (C) lingering
conspired to overthrow the government, (D) limping
they did not harbor ______ antipathy (E) lamenting
for the former regime. 57. As employee and investor sentiment began to _____,
(A) Shallow the CEO, facing the prospect of a united front, had little
(B) benign choice but to resign.
(C) imminent (A) fracture
(D) unqualified (B) capitulate
(E) feigned (C) dissemble
(D) congeal
(E) decline