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皇冠 GRE 新新高高频填 4.
0 版
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新新高高频填空篇
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目录
新新高高频填空篇............................................................................................................................................... 1
第一部分：高频单空题 ................................................................................................................................ 4
SECTION 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 4
SECTION 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 6
SECTION 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 8
SECTION 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 11
SECTION 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 13
SECTION 6 ........................................................................................................................................ 15
SECTION 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 18
SECTION 8 ........................................................................................................................................ 20
SECTION 9 ........................................................................................................................................ 22
SECTION 10 ...................................................................................................................................... 25
SECTION 11（4.0 版更新） .............................................................................................................. 27
SECTION 12（4.0 版更新） .............................................................................................................. 30
第二部分：高频双空题 .............................................................................................................................. 32
SECTION 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 32
SECTION 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 34
SECTION 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 37
SECTION 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 39
SECTION 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 42
SECTION 6 ........................................................................................................................................ 44
SECTION 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 47
SECTION 8 ........................................................................................................................................ 49
1
皇冠 GRE 新新高高频填 4.0 版
SECTION 9 ........................................................................................................................................ 51
SECTION 10（4.0 版更新） .............................................................................................................. 54
第三部分：高频三空题 .............................................................................................................................. 56
SECTION 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 56
SECTION 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 59
SECTION 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 62
SECTION 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 65
SECYION 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 67
SECTION 6 ........................................................................................................................................ 70
SECTION 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 73
SECTION 8（4.0 版更新） ................................................................................................................ 76
SECTION 9（4.0 版更新） ................................................................................................................ 79
第四部分：高频六选二 .............................................................................................................................. 81
SECTION 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 81
SECTION 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 84
SECTION 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 87
SECTION 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 89
SECTION 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 92
SECTION 6 ........................................................................................................................................ 95
SECTION 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 97
SECTION 8 ...................................................................................................................................... 100
SECTION 9 ...................................................................................................................................... 103
SECTION 10 .................................................................................................................................... 105
SECTION 11 .................................................................................................................................... 108
SECTION 12 .................................................................................................................................... 110
SECTION 13 .................................................................................................................................... 113
SECTION 14 .................................................................................................................................... 116
SECTION 15 .................................................................................................................................... 118
SECTION 16 .................................................................................................................................... 121
SECTION 17（4.0 版更新） ............................................................................................................ 124
SECTION 18（4.0 版更新） ............................................................................................................ 126
SECTION 19（4.0 版更新） ............................................................................................................ 129
SECTION 20（4.0 版更新） ............................................................................................................ 132
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3
第一部分：高频单空题
SECTION 1
XGSC0001
Baron’s book implores scientists to present their work in ways that are accessible to the general public in
order to save the world at large from scientific illiteracy, ________ that is echoed in other recent
publications.
A) a query
B) an analysis
C) an exhortation
D) an allurement
E) an implication
XGSC0002
Because we participate in the dynamics of ecosystems as we restore them, restoration practice is in
essence antithetical to the idea of a ________ wilderness.
A) managed
B) developing
C) rehabilitated
D) pristine
E) degraded
XGSC0003
Age data from meteorites suggests that, in contrast to the relatively ________ pace of planetary evolution
we are witnessing today, the first ten million years or so of our solar system history were extremely eventful.
A) structured
B) uncertain
C) pedestrian
D) productive
E) menacing
XGSC0004
The survey showed widespread misgivings among Asian business leaders, with even those who have
prospered most in the recent past not being ________ about their future prospects.
富有
A) forthright 直率的
B) apprehensive
C) sanguine
D) abashed
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E) morose
XGSC0005
As a history, Bunker’s book can seem ________, prone as it is to diverting asides such as an engaging
disquisition on the political science of early modern Europe.
A) holistic
B) unstinting
C) misanthropic
D) unsettling
E) haphazard
XGSC0006
Concerned about the growing tendency of universities to sometimes reward celebrity more generously than
specialized expertise, many academics have deplored the search for ________ to which that practice leads.
A) approbation
B) collegiality
C) erudition
D) renown 声望
E) prowess
XGSC0007
The design of many seventeenth-century scientific instruments was not entirely _______; in their
construction, such instruments already involved many assumptions about aspects of the phenomena that
they were aimed to investigate.
A) consistent
B) original
C) precise
D) impartial
E) versatile
XGSC0008
DeLillo’s writing seems strangely attenuated in the pages, stripped of its usual pop and fizz, its tactile sense
of detail, and as a result the novel has ________ feel.
A) an etiolated 缺乏活⼒
B) a tendentious
C) a vernal
D) a labyrinthine
E) a salacious
XGSC0009
5
Thanks to their importance as components in the catalytic converters that reduce vehicle emissions,
platinum, palladium, and rhodium have all become ________ in the fight against air pollution.
A) paradigms
B) aberrations 反常
C) novelties
D) bulwarks 保障
E) exceptions
XGSC0010
严重
The severity of the forest fire was _________, as indicated by the presence of scattered patches of living
trees in aerial photographs.
A) unexpected
B) unprecedented
C) uneven
D) underestimated
E) unambiguous
SECTION 2
XGSC0011
Despite being obviously whimsical, the sixteenth-century paintings of human figures constructed of botanical
objects show remarkable ________: every plant, fruit, and flower is depicted in detail and is clearly
recognizable.
A) facetiousness
B) spontaneity
C) originality
D) abstraction
E) verisimilitude
XGSC0012
Gluten—a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye—was formerly avoided only by those suffering from celiac
disease but has recently become a popular dietary ________, with gluten-free foods popping up
everywhere.
A) fad
B) substitute
C) panacea
D) scam
E) villain
XGSC0013
6
Because limestone is a highly soluble rock, limestone regions are easily ________ by acidic rainwater.
A) replaced
B) neutralized
C) distended
D) obstructed
E) modified
XGSC0014
The Jungian literary scholar argued that Frankenstein, Withering Heights, and Dracula all serve ________
purpose: to warn of the dangers that face the psyche that fails to integrate its “shadow”.
A) a celebratory
B) an admonitory
C) a placative
D) a destructive
E) an adversarial
XGSC0015
The composer’s music had been criticized for being simple and accessible to a fault, but defenders
countered that music need not be ________ to be great
A) innovative
B) capricious
C) inscrutable
D) meritorious
E) bombastic
XGSC0016
Dependency theorists blame poor countries’ poverty solely on economic exploitation from outside; those
who believe that culture is destiny focus on ________ cause, but, in contrast to dependency theorists, they
find that cause within.
A) a single
B) a foreign
C) an expedient
D) an inevitable
E) an indeterminate
XGSC0017
The distance between Tibetan villages is sometimes ________ by the number of cups of tea necessary to
sustain a person traveling that route: three cups of tea are roughly equal to eight kilometers.
A) amplified
B) foreshadowed
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C) eclipsed
D) constrained
E) reckoned
XGSC0018
It is ironic that the scientist’s work was criticized recently for its ________ research methodology, since other
researchers have argued for years that this same methodology was based absolutely on impeccable logic.
A) fastidious
B) esoteric
C) abstruse
D) impervious
E) specious
XGSC0019
Political cartoons are defined by their ________: a cartoon will be viewed and talked about maybe for a day,
but six months later it will need an extended footnote to be understood.
A) popularity
B) transparency
C) sarcasm
D) partisanship
E) ephemerality
XGSC0020
Wilson was a generally ________ person: he rarely did anything pleasurable at all.
A) boorish
B) sophisticated
C) contemplative
D) ascetic
E) sybaritic
SECTION 3
XGSC0021
When the Sphinx and the pyramids were built, the Egyptian pharaohs could marshal labor forces on an epic
scale, but in later centuries workers' numbers dwindled as rainfall became less dependable and harvests
became more ________.
A) commonplace
B) sustainable
C) unwieldy
D) precarious
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E) predictable
XGSC0022
Archaeopteryx had feathers on its hind limbs that helped stabilize it and acted as air brakes, allowing the
otherwise ________ creature to turn more adeptly and fly steadily.
A) docile
B) ungainly
C) unpredictable
D) torpid
E) reckless
XGSC0023
Director Spike Lee could well feel ________ certain recent cultural shifts because while he has not changed
his own controversial positions, attitudes in the wider culture have become more aligned with his views.
A) threatened by
B) vindicated by
C) impatient with
D) neutral about
E) disconnected from
XGSC0024
While the theory that volcanic activity enables the venting of methane gas from subsurface reserves offers a
reasonable explanation for the replenishing of methane in Titan’s atmosphere, volcano-like structures on
Titan’s surface are ________.
A) relatively typical
B) slowly evolving
C) truly fascinating
D) geologically active
E) still undiscovered
XGSC0025
The fiftieth birthday of this much-admired musician has, predictably, given rise to various ________,
including two flattering television documentaries about her life.
A) encomiums
B) diatribes
C) controversies
D) exposés
E) conundrums
XGSC0026
9
Despite having been designated as an interdepartmental effort, the project involved no real ________ of
viewpoints.
A) distillation
B) synthesis
C) explication
D) dilution
E) encapsulation
XGSC0027
While Pompeian houses vary in their size, ground plan, and decorative schemes, they do tend to ________
certain consistent design motivations: their owners all seem to have aimed toward creating a certain kind of
domestic space.
A) inform
B) defy
C) inspire
D) thwart
E) betray
XGSC0028
One enhancement to artificial-intelligence-based virtual assistants involves their ability to pinpoint moments
when human users make a request and then______: a new machine-learning algorithm allows the software
to identify rescission.
A) reiterate
B) backtrack
C) give up
D) elaborate
E) hesitate
XGSC0029
Until 2007, Japanese artist Kazuo Shiraga was ______ collectors in the United States; his current
resurgence is helped by the vogue for so-called process-based abstraction and a revival of interest in
performance art.
A) vastly overrated by
B) widely studied among
C) closely affiliated with
D) virtually unknown to
E) deliberately exoticized by
XGSC0030
Central control of the country’s power grid is difficult because of the ________ of the electricity industry—it is
made up of hundreds of local networks with separate owners.
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A) bifurcation
B) interdependence
C) nationalization
D) tractability
E) balkanization
SECTION 4
XGSC0031
Because the weight of melting ice sheets and glaciers is increasing pressure on the Earth’s ocean floors,
causing them to sink, measurements of sea-level rise have probably ________ the increasing volume of
water in the oceans.
A) anticipated
B) included
C) exaggerated
D) underestimated
E) pinpointed
XGSC0032
Since the diplomat knew that her diary might eventually be made public and that it would therefore be
advisable to omit sensitive details, it is surprising that she described events with such ________.
A) skill
B) disinterest
C) obfuscation
D) candor
E) reticence
XGSC0033
The watchword in astronomy is ________: all claims must be examined critically in the light of current
knowledge, and one’s mind should never be closed to the possibility that a theory could be wrong.
A) implausibility
B) imagination
C) wariness
D) determination
E) incoherency
XGSC0034
Massive geological changes do not always happen gradually for example, asteroid and comet impacts and
volcanic eruptions cause ________ changes in Earth’s environment.
A) transitory
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B) precipitate
C) predictable
D) inconspicuous
E) incalculable
XGSC0035
Unlike other rap artists, who often ________ behind the microphone, Drake writes out every word of his
rhymes before he performs them.
A) linger
B) proselytize
C) extemporize
D) fulminate
E) compromise
XGSC0036
To write convincing fiction about the tedium of ordinary life may be one of the hardest challenges facing a
novelist, who must find a way to engage the reader despite a focus on ________ events.
A) distressing
B) dubious
C) quotidian
D) unwonted
E) nebulous
XGSC0037
The politician was famously restrained, with a tendency to focus his fury inward: while he would defend
himself publicly against detractors’ attacks, he would never stoop to ________.
A) refutation
B) adjuration
C) fulmination
D) asseveration
E) ingratiation
XGSC0038
The deer-antler knives used by kung fu practitioners originated in societies in which spilling blood was
________; even in self-defense, these weapons could be used only to pin an attacker against a wall or on
the ground.
A) purposeful
B) routine
C) symbolic
D) proscribed
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E) random
XGSC0039
Artist Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949-2015) initially pursued painting but eventually found herself drawn to
sculpture, perhaps because her lack of training in the latter subject ________ a certain liberating ignorance
about the medium’s limitations.
A) mitigated against
B) translated into
C) reached beyond
D) derived from
E) prevailed over
XGSC0040
Melinda’s political beliefs were a matter of ________: she held true only to those positions that served her
own best interest.
A) naiveté
B) pretentiousness
C) expediency
D) desperation
E) selflessness
SECTION 5
XGSC0041
Neither Giles, whose every initiative floundered, nor Haldeman, whose only successes were trifling, can be
considered ________ personal triumph.
A) a mockery of
B) a paradox of
C) the antithesis of
D) an avatar of
E) an anodyne for
XGSC0042
Not only are RNA viruses common, they are ________ in that they adapt quickly to new environments and
new hosts.
A) ubiquitous
B) benign
C) noxious
D) synthetic
E) protean
13
XGSC0043
Those who hypothesize former volcanoes on Ceres must account for the volcanoes’ ________: because
Ceres lacks an atmosphere, the erosion processes that wear down Earth’s mountains don’t occur on the
dwarf planet.
A) formation
B) activity
C) magnitude
D) composition
E) disappearance
XGSC0044
Traditional gendered divisions of labor among the Wabanaki tribe were, in some respects at least,
________; for example, women planted corn only after men had cleared their fields.
A) complementary
B) haphazard
C) flexible
D) unproductive
E) onerous
XGSC0045
Different comets have different ________: some come in from their distant reservoirs and fall straight into
the Sun, where they are vaporized, while many more pass close to the Sun but miss it.
A) origins
B) compositions
C) densities
D) fates
E) speeds
XGSC0046
Historically, it has been unusual for scientific terms, once coined, to enter common usage with much
________: “scientist” and “dinosaur” (coined in 1833 and 1842, respectively), for instance, were rarely used
before the late nineteenth century.
A) recognition
B) dispatch
C) accuracy
D) controversy
E) acclaim
XGSC0047
14
Hotels in major urban markets seem to offer the biggest potential ________ seasoned investors looking to
make an investment in the lodging sector, those hotels took the hardest hit during the recession, and
analysts expect them to bounce back just as steeply.
A) risk for
B) concession from
C) source of
D) disincentive to
E) windfall to
XGSC0048
During Roosevelt’s first meeting with President, Harrison. Harrison seemed less ________ than usual:
having just returned from a salubrious cruise down the Potomac, his characteristic sour silence was
replaced by a ruddy, clear-eyed demeanor.
A) propitiatory
B) sanguine
C) pensive
D) dyspeptic
E) belligerent
XGSC0049
The myth of the scientific method as a neat progression from hypothesis to experiment to conclusion is
dispelled once you enter a lab and observe the ________ process by which researchers actually make
discoveries.
A) meticulous
B) unproductive
C) imperturbable
D) haphazard
E) sequential
XGSC0050
Given the extraordinary ________ of its arguments, it is surprising that the central thesis of the book can be
stated so simply.
A) nuance
B) insensitivity
C) lucidity
D) spuriousness
E) rationality
SECTION 6
XGSC0051
15
The Internet is an eternally unfinished monument to ________, a text that aspires to be as big and
multifarious as the world it describes.
A) inclusion
B) self-promotion
C) innovation
D) triviality
E) abstraction
XGSC0052
One year after the passing of the initiative, commentators were as virulent as when the legislation was
signed into law, suggesting a level of ________ uncommon for its depth and longevity.
A) acumen
B) umbrage
C) torpor
D) vacillation
E) equanimity
XGSC0053
Rosemary’s reliance on her sister, though not ________, was plainly too great to permit a painless
departure.
A) trifling
B) ambivalent
C) calculated
D) immoderate
E) noticeable
XGSC0054
The conference panelists covered a broad range of issues fairly evenhandedly, even managing to avoid
being ________ when discussing topics that routinely generate heated arguments and strong feelings.
A) forbearing
B) facile
C) equivocal
D) unctuous
E) tendentious
XGSC0055
Refusing to speak plainly, the candidate tested her audience’s patience with her ________ speech.
A) unequivocal
B) fustian
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C) lucid
D) facile
E) perspicuous
XGSC0056
The composers music had been criticized for being simple and accessible to a fault, but defenders
countered that music need not be _________ to be great.
A) innovative
B) capricious
C) inscrutable
D) meritorious
E) bombastic
XGSC0057
Unlike the introductions to many other biographies, this one is not ________; in fact, it would be a stretch to
call it evenhanded.
A) evaluative
B) contrived
C) concise
D) laudatory
E) formal
XGSC0058
Given the wild and fantastical nature of the witness’ story, it is not surprising that many believe it to be
_________.
A) apocryphal
B) unengaging
C) abstruse
D) credible
E) prosaic
XGSC0059
It would be a disservice to the novel’s intricate construction to provide its readers in advance with even
_________ summation of its unfolding events: the book should be allowed to reveal its own surprises.
A) a subjective
B) a cursory
C) an incisive
D) a comprehensive
E) a predictable
17
XGSC0060
When an olive oil fails a taste test by one of the country’s official certification panels, producers often
successfully appeal the verdict by arguing that the samples were incorrectly collected or stored, or they
secure a judgment from a more ________ panel.
A) zealous
B) penitent
C) obsequious
D) indulgent
E) brusque
SECTION 7
XGSC0281
The company's president was unfailingly __________, insisting even in the face of declining profits that the
firm's potential for future growth was unlimited.
A) circumspect
B) sanguine
C) timorous
D) assiduous
E) capricious
XGSC0282
Disavowing personal credit for the creation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe presented herself
as a selfless transmitter of moral and religious message and tended to ________ her creative literary talent.
A) exploit
B) exaggerate
C) downplay
D) reiterate
E) relish
XGSC0283
Bangladeshi elites in the late twentieth century often viewed Japan as a ________: Japan offered a relevant
model of success because of its similarity to Bangladesh in terms of ecology of ecology and population
density.
A) rival
B) paradox
C) hindrance
D) touchstone
E) patron
18
XGSC0284
Admissions to culinary schools are not linked to the number of projected vacancies in restaurants; this has
resulted in a ___________ of well-trained chefs, leaving many of them without suitable positions.
A) recession
B) recruitment
C) consortium
D) disregard
E) surfeit
XGSC0285
His lackadaisical approach to this project belies his well-known reputation for __________.
A) flippancy
B) mordancy
C) preciosity
D) prodigality
E) assiduity
XGSC0286
A beaver's daily activity rhythm can be __________ the natural 24-hour light cycle; indeed some beaver
colonies in Canada have shown a free-running cycle of activity that deviates considerably from 24 hours.
A) impaired by
B) decoupled from
C) coterminous with
D) defined by
E) interrupted by
XGSC0287
Although the governor was not optimistic about placating the opposing factions, he nevertheless hoped that
his statement would have ___________ effect.
A) an irenic
B) a coruscating
C) a polemical
D) an obfuscatory
E) a rhetorical
XGSC0288
Robin's words were not without emotion: they retained their level tone only by a careful __________
imminent extremes.
A) equipoise between
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B) embrace of
C) oscillation between
D) limitation to
E) subjection to
XGSC0289
The company's ___________ posture is at odds with its decision to pursue legal action on the grounds that
the vendor had violated its contract.
A) peremptory
B) conciliatory
C) partisan
D) authoritarian
E) retributive
XGSC0290
Many people think of the city as so extreme in its cultural fusion that it is _______, but this study advances
the opposite claim, that the city is actually representative of the nation as a whole.
A. protean
B. discordant
C. anomalous
D. ungovernable
E. adulterated
SECTION 8
XGSC0291
The motions of celestial objects _______ astronomers for millennia; efforts to end this puzzlement finally led
to the birth of modern physics with the work of Isaac Newton.
A. disheartened
B. bemused
C. scandalized
D. irritated
E. animated
XGSC0292
If we admire Winslow Homer as he wished to be admired, for his avoidance of claptrap and sentimentality,
we may fear that Wood has done him a disservice by introducing ________ note into his discussion of the
painter.
A) an acerbic
B) a supercilious
20
C) an austere
D) a maudlin
E) an ironic
XGSC0293
The regulatory agency’s attempts to impose new and harsher restrictions on the business community were
met with such ________ that the agency finally opted to maintain its existing rules.
A) impunity
B) probity
C) recalcitrance
D) indemnity
E) approbation
XGSC0294
In the Hawaiian Islands, where the volcanic material is initially too _______ to support running surface water,
rainwater simply percolates down through the substratum.
A) impermeable
B) verdant
C) flammable
D) porous
E) eroded
XGSC0295
Except for its recent accounting irregularities, the company has had a remarkable record for _______.
A) probity
B) profitability
C) growth
D) philanthropy
E) risk-taking
XGSC0296
In light of the extensive climate changes anticipated in the coming century, the discovery that large and
sophisticated cultures have already been undone by climate change presents a very _______.
A) reassuring guarantee
B) intriguing supposition
C) unnerving prediction
D) uncomfortable precedent
E) dubious finding
XGSC0297
21
Elizabeth was incredibly _______: she believed the claims of almost any advertisement on television, no
matter how grandiose and extravagant such claims sounded.
A. credible
B. disingenuous
C. dubious
D. credulous
E. cautious
XGSC0298
Readers are interested in Marx’s life because of his ideas, but Sperber’s book downplays his ideas to make
room for his life, illustrating why intellectual biography can sometimes be a curiously _______ genre.
A) self-reflexive
B) self-glorifying
C) self-defeating
D) self-propagating
E) self-absorbed
XGSC0299
Since it omits no discovery and no medical scientist of any importance, this book about the history of
Western medicine has been justly described by reviewers as not only carefully researched and well
organized but also _______.
A) encyclopedic
B) esoteric
C) iconoclastic
D) derivative
E) parochial
XGSC0300
In seventeenth-century science, we witness the first instance of technological _______: scientific tools,
constructed from existing scientific knowledge, led to the acquisition of new knowledge that in turn
contributed to improving the tools’ design.
A) breakthrough
B) feedback
C) controversy
D) cooperation
E) malaise
SECTION 9
XGSC0351
22
The depletion of soil and trees in southern West Virginia has resulted in frequent flash floods, since when
the mountain slopes are ________, storms cause torrents of water to pour down them unimpeded.
A) riven
B) fecund
C) denuded
D) withered
E) mutable
XGSC0352
The results of the latest survey being ________, earlier results gave researchers little relevant experience
for the new data's interpretation.
A) superfluous
B) inconsequential
C) tedious
D) unexampled
E) familiar
XGSC0353
In nineteenth-century Japan, the national government’s template for presenting annual statistical information
proved, in practice, to be _______: regional statistical yearbooks reveal a subtle reshuffling of the template’s
categories to showcase what mattered most to local officials.
A. intractable
B. malleable
C. provident
D. inviolable
E. practicable
XGSC0354
Machine learning, a subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on finding patterns and making predictions,
was once _______ technology firms, but the financial industry has recently also embraced its use.
A. profitable for
B. a requirement for
C. the preserve of
D. the bane of
E. peripheral to
XGSC0355
Consolidating a memory is not instantaneous or even _______: every memory must be encoded and moved
from short-term to long-term storage, and some of those memories are, for whatever reason, more vividly
imprinted than others.
23
A. salutary
B. deliberate
C. sequential
D. momentary
E. inevitable
XGSC0356
Before divulging the nature of their experiments, the researchers anticipated ________, thinking that their
work might appear macabre; hence they prepared carefully for a press conference at which they
emphasized the project’s scientific and medical value.
A. trifling criticism
B. adverse repercussions
C. indecipherable outcomes
D. widespread indifference
E. spontaneous approval
XGSC0357
Her tendency toward _______ made her willingness to step up and lead the turbulent group all the more
impressive.
A. guilelessness
B. diffidence
C. forbearance
D. rectitude
E. assiduousness
XGSC0358
The writers the author discusses are, to varying degrees, _______ figures, in that they were either in conflict
with their environments or lived their imaginative lives at a tangent to social reality.
A. nomadic
B. pedestrian
C. mercurial
D. eccentric
E. reclusive
XGSC0359
In Southern California, white abalone populations have waned dramatically and black abalone populations
have likewise _______.
A. migrated
B. proliferated
C. divided
24
D. evolved
E. declined
XGSC0360
Only if charter schools truly were ________ education troubles would the state be justified in its current
policy of indiscriminately granting such charters to all who apply.
A. an exacerbation of
B. an excuse for
C. a determinant of
D. a panacea for
E. a sequel to
SECTION 10
XGSC0371
She was _______ in her quest for scientific ideas-so much so that she kept a notepad next to her bed to jot
down ideas that might come to her during the night.
A. assiduous
B. circumspect
C. perfunctory
D. audacious
E. hidebound
XGSC0372
In protoscientific times (for example, in ancient Greece), claims about the physical world were often
accepted as true if they were reasonable; experimental verification, if thought necessary at all, was
_______.
A. utilitarian
B. perfunctory
C. egregious
D. empirical
E. inductive
XGSC0373
It is curious that the same industrialists who are increasingly _______ about the economy’s prospects are no
cheerier about their own firm’s outlook than they were a year ago.
A. morose
B. laconic
C. sanguine
D. loquacious
25
E. knowledgeable
XGSC0374
She often liked to joke that the duties associated with her honorary post were so _______ that they could
easily be performed while asleep.
A. multifarious
B. exiguous
C. onerous
D. engrossing
E. inscrutable
XGSC0375
Woody plant responses to herbivory were always thought to be _______; however, some scientists have
reported localized responses to herbivory in certain woody plants.
A. timely
B. marginal
C. unpredictable
D. adequate
E. systemic
XGSC0376
The company’s chief executive officer would brook no _______ in the organization, preferring to purge
contentious employees from its ranks rather than tolerate any dissension.
A. malfeasance
B. nepotism
C. diffidence
D. indolence
E. effrontery
XGSC0377
One of the most appealing things about Sloterdijk’s philosophy is his willingness to be _______: he does not
attempt to anticipate and to refute all possible objections.
A. adaptable
B. impartial
C. vulnerable
D. accessible
E. charitable
XGSC0378
26
Castellanos Moya’s writing is plain and colloquial, even calculatedly _______, and the no-frills language
serves a purpose: it signals that nothing is hidden in the trappings of eloquence.
A. artless
B. subtle
C. deceptive
D. sanguine
E. figurative
XGSC0379
Establishing the exact boundaries of a piece of property can be _______ process; some of the bitterest
battles in contemporary society are waged between neighbors fighting over small slivers of land.
A. a definitive
B. a scrupulous
C. an expedient
D. a fraught
E. a deliberate
XGSC0380
In order to put their own ideas to a scrupulous test, scientists should actively try to falsify them, though in
practice such attempts at _______ rarely have the vigor theorists of scientific method would prefer.
A. empiricism
B. disavowal
C. self-refutation
D. countermanding
E. circuitousness
SECTION 11（4.0 版更新）

XGSC0421
The impact of the film on what people believe happened illustrates the power of fiction to _______ certain
historical interpretations: patently fabricated, the film nevertheless supports and sustains people’s cherished
understanding of the events depicted.
A. defuse
B. ratify
C. compel
D. isolate
E. anticipate
XGSC0422
27
With his winning personality and ingratiating manner, Arturo found it a simple matter to _______ the deed to
the property for himself, though its original holder initially seemed impervious to persuasion.
A. inveigle
B. confiscate
C. impound
D. annul
E. abrogate
XGSC0423
The effect of the film’s expansive, darkly mournful opening sequence was magnified by a score that was
similarly _______ and unrelenting.
A. iridescent
B. volatile
C. equivocal
D. plangent
E. blithe
XGSC0424
Gamwell claims that questions such as “What are the core assumptions of astronomy?” are _______ the
field of astronomical science; if someone is discussing the nature of astronomy, that individual is engaged in
the philosophy of science rather than astronomy itself.
A. derived from
B. peripheral to
C. commensurate with
D. attendant upon
E. endemic in
XGSC0425
Throughout his book, Venter savors his reputation as _______, believing himself righteous and embattled,
as when his choices to sequence genome fragments and to patent expressed sequence tags provoked
outrage among fellow scientists.
A. a tactician
B. an iconoclast
C. an opportunist
D. a clairvoyant
E. a dilettante
XGSC0426
Among developing economies, such as those of China and Mexico, the variance in productivity growth
during the last50 years has been significant; thus, when it comes to productivity, none of these economies
can be considered _______.
28
A. successful
B. exceptional
C. typical
D. fragile
E. independent
XGSC0427
Historians of medicine are resigned to doctors’ _______ medical history: physicians offer hagiographic
biographies of obscure nineteenth-century medical figures, triumphalist narratives of medical progress, and
retrospective diagnoses of ailments afflicting historical characters.
A. clarifications of
B. disaffection with
C. condescension toward
D. incursions into
E. indifference to
XGSC0428
Pearl millet possesses the unique genetic predisposition to withstand environmental stress and produce
appreciable yield, cultivation on _______ soils notwithstanding.
A. arable
B. fertilized
C. marginal
D. native
E. choice
XGSC0429
During the United States Civil War, some African American newspapers urged Black men to join the fight,
but these publications were more than just _______: they also provided historical analyses of the issues
surrounding emancipation.
A. forensic
B. hortatory
C. quixotic
D. tenacious
E. eulogistic
XGSC0430
Naomi Hossain argues that Jeffrey Sachs’ narrative about economic development in Bangladesh is best
described as a _______, since it presents many accurate observations but selectively exaggerates and
minimizes for effect.
A. synopsis
29
B. digression
C. fiction
D. caricature
E. calumny

XGSC0431
Current models used to predict the fate of polystyrene plastics in the ocean do not account for the material’s
_______, but a recent study shows that polystyrene can eventually be broken down by sunlight.
A. ubiquity
B. malleability
C. perishability
D. buoyancy
E. toxicity
XGSC0432
The wars waged in northeastern Japan from 774 to 812 C.E. were _______, whereas previous wars in
Japan, while violent, had been notable for their brevity.
A. controversial
B. protracted
C. chaotic
D. intermittent
E. brutal
XGSC0433
Some researchers have plausibly suggested that the _______ of play behavior in animals experiencing
stressful conditions is evidence that play has high biological costs.
A. ubiquity
B. diminution
C. sophistication
D. diversity
E. existence
XGSC0434
Few meteorites are _______: most languish for many years before being found, their untold stories slowly
fading from extended exposure to wind and rain.
A. hazardous
B. massive
C. invaluable
30
D. pristine
E. prehistoric
XGSC0435
At its psychological core, moral decision making is about _______: we abhor violence because we know
violence hurts, and we treat others fairly because we know what it feels like to be treated unfairly.
A. instinct
B. sympathy
C. power
D. fear
E. rationality
XGSC0436
_______ though individual mosquitoes appear, historically they have shown an impressive ability to travel,
sometimes as stowaways in water casks and drinking vessels on ships traveling to distant continents.
A. Peripatetic
B. Indistinguishable
C. Harmless
D. Frail
E. Noisome
XGSC0437
Some species’ camouflage patterns may be ________, granting those species a higher chance of survival in
a heterogeneous environment.
A) plastic
B) subtle
C) singular
D) consistent
E) imitable
XGSC0438
In recent years, the country’s farmers have been extremely ________, contributing a major portion of the
disturbances and protests against government policies.
A) discerning
B) tractable
C) restive
D) mercurial
E) circumspect
XGSC0439
31
Since the state-run copper and cobalt companies are ________ the government has become largely reliant
on diamonds and oil, which make up 75 percent of exports.
A) monopolistic
B) unregulated
C) remunerative
D) moribund
E) unmortgaged
XGSC0440
Enlarged sensory organs in cave-dwelling organisms are not necessarily the rule: the phreatic Texas bling
catfish has actually developed ________ barbels, whisker-like sensory organs near the nouth that are a
prominent feature of other catfish species.
A) protective
B) minute
C) intimidating
D) inordinate
E) fragile
第二部分：高频双空题
SECTION 1
XGSC0061
The rapid developments of crystallography over the past hundred years have been (i)________ by the work
of physicists, while, similarly, modern physics is indebted to crystallography. This is clearly (ii)_________
relationship, albeit one that is often underacknowledged.
A) reflexively challenged D) a nascent
B) unjustifiably disregarded E) a symbiotic
C) substantially supported F) an adversarial
XGSC0062
The foundation’s new president is well aware that the foundation’s charter intends (i)________ role for the
office of president, but he is clearly determined to flout that intention by (ii)________ as much power and
responsibility as possible.
A) a nominal D) delegating
B) an unfettered E) identifying
C) a clandestine F) annexing
32
XGSC0063
In China, beginning in the 1920s, the field of geography was (i)________ discourse, alive to indigenous
Chinese traditions even as it (ii)________ key elements of Western scientific geography.
A) an arcane D) ignored
B) a hybrid E) questioned
C) a subjective F) absorbed
XGSC0064
The overall message of this book on neuroscience is (i)_________: the brain is quite (ii)_________, and
therefore damaged brains can be healed, aging brains can be rejuvenated, and even ordinarily healthy
brains can be made faster and better.
A) enigmatic D) malleable
B) cautious E) fragile
C) upbeat F) complex
XGSC0065
To understand what accounts for the durability of the Chinese empire, we must first (i)_________ of
deterministic explanations attributing it to an unusually convenient topographic setting. The empire’s terrain,
divided into natural enclaves by mountain ranges and huge rivers, was as (i)_________ the emergence of
small independent polities as any other part of the world.
A) consider the importance D) desolate before
B) question the adequacy E) secure against
C) dismiss the critiques F) conducive to
XGSC0066
At its best, the storytelling in this television series manages to accommodate a sense of historical
(i)________. The narrative shows that American independence was not (ii)________. It was debated. It
didn’t happen overnight. No one was sure how it would turn out.
A) contingency D) inevitable
B) plausibility E) unforeseen
C) constancy F) unremarkable
XGSC0067
33
The historian noted that her first work of fiction, set in Boston in the 1760s, did not really feel like a
(i)________ scholarly endeavors: she had always practiced history as a creative discipline in which
imagination and (ii)_________ are complementary rather than antithetical.
A) continuation of D) rigor
B) reflection on E) monotony
C) departure from F) invention
XGSC0068
In her biography of literary critic Diana Trilling, Natalie Robins exhibits a (i)________ the intellectual
passions and fierce arguments that consumed Trilling and her coterie: Robins’ treatment of Trilling’s
positions is generally (ii)________, never providing much in the way of real analysis or opinion.
A) polemical view of D) descriptive
B) polite boredom with E) tendentious
C) vested interest in F) enthusiastic
XGSC0069
Curry suggests that what we learn from literature is (i)________ and might even be (ii)________: literature
allows us to gain skills and sensitivities that can be difficult to put into words.
A) valuable D) vicarious
B) elusive E) ineffable
C) impractical F) quixotic
XGSC0070
Lorena de la Paz Carrete Lucero and her colleagues found (i)________ brand loyalty among Mexican car
purchasers, which suggests that regardless of customers’ current brand preferences, customers may be
(ii)________ competitors’ marketing strategies.
A) rising D) ignorant of
B) uniform E) confused by
C) little F) responsive to
SECTION 2
XGSC0071
Popular belief suggests that new discoveries in science are invariably (i)________ accepted wisdom. In fact,
most often the opposite is true: old ideas not only survive but almost always (ii)________.
34
A) based upon D) become otiose
B) inimical to E) generate controversy
C) saddled with F) remain seminal
XGSC0072
Because self-defense was peripheral to the karate training techniques instituted throughout the Okinawan
educational system in the early twentieth century, the pugilistic dimension of karate techniques was
(i)________ or even (ii)________.
A) intentionally downplayed D) revitalized
B) gradually expanded E) eliminated
C) strongly emphasized F) exploited
XGSC0073
While acknowledging that the actions that the Prime Minister took in order to remain in office were
(i)________, some politicians nevertheless argue that this small amount of (ii)________ was justified to
keep a reforming government in office.
A) unethical D) skulduggery
B) impractical E) indolence
C) quixotic F) incivility
XGSC0074
Gutierrez is the only one who seems to be (i)________ the controversy sparked by his article: his appetite
for scientific (ii)________ seems, if anything, to be increasing with age.
A) relishing D) altercations
B) quelling E) conundrums
C) whitewashing F) breakthroughs
XGSC0075
Observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory give astronomers even more evidence that galaxies
(i)________, and that even their central supermassive black holes eventually (ii)________.
A) swell D) merge
B) coalesce E) implode
C) endure F) deteriorate
35
XGSC0076
Extreme political positions actually tend to be more (i)________ than the platforms of large political parties,
since the alliance of diverse interests that constitutes a big party is often (ii)________ except that it makes
for a powerful coalition capable collectively of exerting a governing influence.
A) biased D) limitless
B) inflammatory E) harmless
C) consistent F) senseless
XGSC0077
Weeds lack the lethality of insects and microbes, which can strike farm crops seemingly out of nowhere and
rapidly wipe them out. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that infestations of insects and disease are
typically (i)________ events, whereas weeds are (ii)________.
A) sporadic D) resilient
B) devastating E) controllable
C) intractable F) ubiquitous
XGSC0078
In the mid-1990s, researchers were aware that individuals and subpopulations vary in their susceptibilities to
environmental pollutants. However, environmental health scientists, hoping to identify general trends, tended
to view these variations as (i)________ and used methods, in both human and animal studies, to
(ii)________.
A) warnings D) minimize their effect
B) distractions E) highlight their ubiquity
C) advantages F) measure their duration
XGSC0079
If a healthy political culture is rooted in conversation and based on honest argumentation, then one of the
most (i)________ rhetorical tactics is the use of (ii)________ alternatives, since discussions shaped by this
strategy will foreclose the exploration of the full range of possible courses of action.
A) corrosive D) hypothetical
B) fecund E) spurious
C) enlightening F) myriad
XGSC0080
36
There is little question that in primates there is (i)________ between monogamous mating partnerships and
extensive male care of infants. Nevertheless, that does not mean male care is (ii)________ situations in
which females mate with more than one male; studies of savanna baboons show that male care certainly
can occur in nonmonogamous systems.
A) an association D) precluded by
B) an asymmetry E) contingent on
C) a confusion F) retracted in
SECTION 3
XGSC0081
In Chilean writer Marcela Serrano’s first detective novel, Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, themes of female
repression and identity that are(i)________ Serrano’s other novels are not (ii)________: rather. Serrano
reconceives them within the context of a detective story.
A) salient in D) revisited
B) foreign to E) relinquished
C) inapplicable to F) intertwined
XGSC0082
The evidence for short-term effects of prenatal and early postnatal conditions on barn swallows is
(i)________. However early-life ecological conditions, such as the size of the brood in which young are
reared, may be similarly (ii)________, affecting birds well into adulthood.
A) inconsistent D) underestimated
B) provisional E) deleterious
C) appreciable F) consequential
XGSC0083
Those who knew the senator well were convinced that in spite of his (i)________ in larger political matters,
there was no (ii)________ in his expressions of feeling for his constituents.
A) candor D) dissemblance
B) cooperation E) compassion
C) duplicity F) fervency
XGSC0084
In clear contradiction to the documentary filmmaking convention of geographical (i)________, the locations
in the film Heremakono are willfully (ii)________.
37
A) continuity D) generic
B) stasis E) ironic
C) specificity F) recognizable
XGSC0085
Amerdeep Singh makes the radical suggestion that film adaptations are entirely (i)________ their source
texts—that is, he completely dispenses with fidelity to the source as a measure of a film’s success and
claims that adaptations are (ii)________ creations.
A) antecedent to D) necessarily reductive
B) compromised by E) wholly invented
C) autonomous from F) uniformly inferior
XGSC0086
Xie proposes that sleep achieves its restorative function by switching the brain into a state that facilitates the
clearance of waste products resulting from neural activity during wakefulness; indeed, the very (i)________
of such waste products in the waking brain may (ii)________ the switch to sleep state.
A) utilization D) delay
B) accumulation E) succeed
C) analysis F) trigger
XGSC0087
A problem with the new collection of Tolson’s work, “Harlem Gallery” and Other Poems, is that while it treats
his last book with (i)______, all the poems that came before seem left to fend for themselves, (ii)_______
“Other Poems.”
A) disdain D) reduced to
B) care E) lionized as
C) expediency F) rehabilitated as
XGSC0088
Although the university president can deploy considerable (i)________, and her emotional reticence never
seems rude, one nevertheless cannot help being aware of the (ii)________ behind the affable public
persona.
38
A) cunning D) reserve
B) charm E) acumen
C) erudition F) sagacity
XGSC0089
Throughout his career he has never displayed a disinterested respect for the truth—for what was actually
said and done rather than for what he wishes bad been. Given such a (i)________ historical fact, it will
certainly be seen as (ii)________ that he should now embark on publishing a magazine ostensibly dedicated
to history.
A) cavalier disregard for D) unimportant
B) skeptical appreciation of E) ironic
C) critical approach to F) appropriate
XGSC0090
Because the currents that flow back and forth between the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadoran mainland
create connections, the evolutionary (i)________ of the sea creatures in the two areas, compared with that
of the land dwellers, has been (ii)________.
A) association D) disguised
B) sophistication E) derailed
C) separateness F) diminished
SECTION 4
CGSC0091
The psychologist’s new findings present the discipline with a (i)________: although her results pose a
problem for the standard theory, the alternative theories she proposes are (ii)________.
A) predicament D) unconvincing
B) paradigm E) persuasive
C) prototype F) versatile
CGSC0092
Although his detractors tend to disparage him as (i)________, Santayana did not (ii)________. On the
contrary, his many creations, in a wide variety of genres, proved to be remarkably of a piece, each a different
way of organizing and expressing the same philosophical vision.
39
A) a pedant D) scatter his energies
B) a dilettante E) respond to such criticism
C) an incendiary F) have a purposeful agenda
CGSC0093
African fashion designers, like artists in any medium, (i)________ forms, themes, media, or other elements
reflective of heir specific identities and cultural contexts. For example, an appreciation of the work of
Azzedine Alaia, arguably Africa’s most famous designer, does not (ii)________ a consideration of his
Tunisian heritage.
A) may misrepresent D) require
B) need not hew to E) enrich
C) appreciate the cachet of F) preclude
CGSC0094
Meegan Garber argues that the typical suburban lawn, which was originally designed to (i)________ homes
even as it enforced the distance between them, may be considered (ii)________ domestic space: the whole
neighborhood is invested in the appearance of each neighbor’s yard.
A) beautify D) utilitarian
B) connect E) common
C) circumscribe F) contested
CGSC0095
Much scholarship on the early Tana Tradition of coastal East Africa has been characterized by faith in the
(i)________ of that tradition, but detailed analysis of ceramics suggests that there were (ii)________ the
decorative motifs on early Tana Tradition jars, making it difficult to view the various Tana communities as a
monolithic whole.
A) originality D) regional differences in
B) homogeneity E) practical reasons for
C) longevity F) periodic revivals of
CGSC0096
The study of the evolutionary interaction between herbivorous dinosaurs and the plants they fed on, as
reflected in the fossil record, (i)________. For this reason, many of the interpretations the author presents in
her recent book on the subject are undoubtedly (ii)________.
40
A) is in its infancy D) groundbreaking
B) is highly contentious E) provisional
C) reveals surprising patterns F) superfluous
CGSC0097
She may have been (i)________ when she was finance minister, fighting deficits, but now as prime minister
she is marked by her (ii)________.
A) collaborative D) discretion
B) austere E) largesse
C) resourceful F) platitudes
CGSC0098
Feeling that Francisco Suarez’ views on early moden philosophy had received an amount of attention
(i)________ their great importance, the scholar decided to write a paper about Suarez to help (ii)________
that neglect.
A) consonant with D) codify
B) independent of E) redress
C) incommensurate with F) corroborate
CGSC0099
Rocks of the Morrison Formation in the western United States yield many dinosaur fossils but few plant
fossils. This apparent (i)________ of plants leads some scientists to speculate that the region was once
mostly barren. But others have (ii)________, noting that the herbivorous dinosaurs there would have needed
an abundant food supply.
A) attrition D) abdicated
B) dearth E) acceded
C) attenuation F) demurred
CGSC0100
As an essayist, Reed is an equal-opportunity combatant who pulls no punches. One strength in his
approach is that this (i)________ can be disarmingly refreshing. On the downside, however, Reed
sometimes surrenders too quickly to his more (ii)________ impulses.
41
A) coy self-deprecation D) polemical
B) colloquial informality E) ingratiating
C) aggressive frankness F) analytical
SECTION 5
XGSC0101
Defying expectation, the electorate seems poised to (i)________ a number of political tenets so (ii)________
that they are often paraded as fact.
A) propound D) entrenched
B) reject E) intricate
C) uphold F) tenuous
XGSC0102
The explanation of tornado formation according to which tornadoes form during a twisting clash of air
masses is clearly (i)________: such clashes occur very frequently both in the United States and in countries
where tornadoes are (ii)________.
A) oversimplified D) less intensively studied
B) untestable E) virtually unknown
C) promising F) harder to predict
XGSC0103
In Japan from 690-800 C.E., women occupied the throne more than half the time. These women were not
(i)________ male politicians; rather, female sovereigns such as Jitō and Shōtoku were highly (ii)________,
essentially dictating the formative policies of their respective reigns.
A) officially superiors to D) controversial
B) consistently accepted by E) symbolic
C) simply pawns for F) powerful
XGSC0104
In the mid-1950s Miles Davis assembled his first important and successful jazz quintet. Like many of the Davis
bands to follow, it seemed to be (i)________ grouping in prospect, mixing suavity and harmonic nuances with
forcefulness and raw energy. Nevertheless, it achieved a remarkable balance of delicacy and drive, and it
brought Davis his first (ii)________.
42
A) a brilliant D) puzzled reactions
B) a seamless E) outright criticism
C) an incompatible F) general popularity
XGSC0105
One example of a (i)________ occurs in a vacuum state in quantum field theory. There, “something” and
“nothing” are (ii)_________: it is entirely consistent for there to be nothing, and nonetheless for stuff to show
up when we try to detect it.
A) paradox D) not mutually exclusive
B) tautology E) inextricably paired
C) misnomer F) impervious to interpretation
XGSC0106
A skeptic is someone who does not believe a claim just because someone makes it but instead tests it
against evidence. Sooner or later, if the evidence is solid, then the skeptic must acknowledge the claim’s
legitimacy. Skeptics are (i)________ deniers, who are ideologically committed to a position and (ii)________
in the face of evidence.
A) comparable to D) disconcerted
B) aligned with E) intransigent
C) distinct from F) conscientious
XGSC0107
Fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli was just nineteen years old when Futurism erupted, but she later heeded
that violent, belligerent art movement’s call in the (i)________ of her broad-shouldered suits, the rawness of
her furs and embroidery, and her (ii)________ attitude, which her contemporaries described as “hard chic,”
toward any simpering or mincing in fashion.
A) swagger D) tolerant
B) fustiness E) pugnacious
C) delicacy F) ingenuous
XGSC0108
It is an old vice of criticism—and lately of scholarship—to assume that the meaning of artworks is
(i)________ by their creators and is then simply "there,” waiting only to be decoded by a specially gifted
interpreter. That assumption can lead to gross errors, as with the critical interpretations of Theodor Adorno,
which are (ii)________ by their dependence on the assumption.
43
A) made completely transparent D) engaged
B) fully vested in them E) vitiated
C) left deficient F) mitigated
XGSC0109
The enthusiasm for dancing in New Zealand during the 1920s and 1930s to some extent (i)________ in both
the United States and Britain, where new dance halls (ii)________ in response to customer demand,
although the rampant commercialization associated with larger populations in the United States was not so
apparent in New Zealand.
A) heralded its decline D) foundered
B) bucked trends E) burgeoned
C) mirrored its popularity F) rebounded
XGSC0110
Stigler brings a fundamental (i)________ to his protagonists, somehow treating them with respect even
while he reveals these sometimes prickly characters behaving in (ii)________ ways.
A) sentimentality D) spontaneous
B) sympathy E) perceptive
C) baseness F) petulant
SECTION 6
XGSC0111
Through a steady stream of books, articles, and speeches, he sought to provide (i)________ analysis of
political and economic issues, thus (ii)________, rather than merely touting, the social utility of the scientific
method.
A) a dispassionate D) demonstrating
B) a jaundiced E) undermining
C) an intuitive F) praising
XGSC0112
Ifeanyi Menkiti claims that changes in a person’s qualities over time are ontologically (i)________ That is, he
argues that a person in her youth and that same person in her old age are fundamentally different people (e,
they are ontologically distinct). This difference is not mere one of characteristics but one of (ii)________.
44
A) significant D) demeanor
B) present E) circumstances
C) misleading F) identity
XGSC0113
Though acknowledging the unstated assumptions that commentators on her paper had identified, the
geologist pointed out that such assumptions were (i)________ the context of her research, and therefore
their existence did not (ii)________ her conclusions.
A) antithetical to D) prefigure
B) legitimate within E) validate
C) plausible in F) impede
XGSC0114
A model of scientific (i)________, the biologist did sometimes write about far-reaching implications of
discoveries in his field, but be (ii)________ formulating grand speculative theories, being at all times
conscientiously constrained by the physical evidence.
A) ineptness D) refrained from
B) caution E) reverted to
C) clarity F) delighted in
XGSC0115
The governor, clearly trying to live down a reputation for (i)________, has recently demonstrated an
unexpected ability to be (ii)_________ when dealing with state legislators.
A) elitism D) candid
B) pugnacity E) petulant
C) vacillation F) conciliatory
XGSC0116
The hypothesis about the (i)________ methane concentration on Mars in correlation with certain
environmental variables will be confirmed only through sustained measurements in the future, specifically
aimed at establishing which factors can drive the (ii)________ and subsequent degradation of this gas on
Mars.
45
A) unprecedented levels o D) emission
B) seasonal variations in E) combustion
C) gradual Increases In F) depletion
XGSC0117
Because most of the fish and waterfowl observed in the Arctic Ocean are (i)________ species, disruptive
changes at all levels of the Arctic food chain that have resulted from rapid warming and loss of sea ice there
will (ii)________ ecosystems in more southerly habitats.
A) adaptable D) have an impact upon
B) endangered E) resemble those In
C) migratory F) reveal the diversity of
XGSC0118
The musical sketches Mozart made in the course of composition are fascinating, and some are of the
highest quality. Even supposing that many were (i)________, his sketches are not as numerous as, say,
Beethoven’s, but there are enough of them to (ii)________ the notion that Mozart always wrote down fully
finished pieces straight out of his head.
A) done casually D) revitalize
B) thrown away E) introduce
C) returned to later F) counter
XGSC0119
The grinding stones featured in some of Puerto Rico’s restaurants as part of their decor evoke an idealized
rustic past, but the nostalgia is (i)________: in reality, the job of grinding corn was among the most
(ii)________ of domestic chores, often performed by the women of the house.
A) waning D) essential
B) misplaced E) onerous
C) understandable F) venerated
XGSC0120
The readiness with which media outlets gave the actor opportunities to air her ingenuous views on public
health reflected the extent to which in our culture, celebrity (i)_______ authority and negates (ii)________.
46
A) trumps D) notoriety
B) underwrites E) erudition
C) countenances F) popularity
SECTION 7
XGSC0301
Prose (i) __________ the notion that, as a patron of the arts, Peggy Guggenheim was (ii) __________;
Guggenheim, Prose argues, simply had limited funds to bestow on the many artists and writers who
depended on her.
A) disputes D) elitist
B) accepts E) self-aggrandizing
C) exploits F) parsimonious
XGSC0302
Newton was (i)________ individual. When Newton’s contemporary Robert Hooke claimed to have
considered an inverse-square law for gravitational attraction before Newton had done so, Newton reacted
with (ii)________: upon becoming president of the Royal Society, Newton arranged for the only existing
portrait of Hooke to be destroyed.
A) a prescient D) equanimity
B) an impractical E) foresight
C) an irascible F) vehemence
XGSC0303
Some norms governing authors’ dedications of their works are (i) __________ the norms governing ordinary
speech (it may be wrong to lie, and thus wrong to lie in a dedication), but other norms are (ii) __________
dedications. For example, one ought not dedicate to a worthy recipient an object that one feels is devoid of
value.
A) necessary for D) independent of
B) contradicted by E) invalidated by
C) indistinct from F) particular to
XGSC0304
It is hardly (i)_______ that Roland, raised to (ii)_______ ostentation, is building a house that is the antithesis
of opulence.
47
A) undeniable D) savor
B) remarkable E) recognize
C) irrevocable F) flout
XGSC0305
Brennan's (i) ___________ is being blamed for damaging the company's reputation. Her lawyers, however,
say that she does not lie and that she's been nothing but (ii) __________ from the beginning.
A) arrogance D) forthcoming
B) incompetence E) deceitful
C) prevarication F) gregarious
XGSC0306
Scottish writer Mary Brunton's novels Self-control (1811) and Discipline (1814) are undeniably (i)
__________: her plots, involving virtue rewarded and excess avoided, (ii) __________ cautionary tales,
though the psychological analysis that pervades the books saves them from blandness and sentimentality.
A) didactic D) amount to
B) innovative E) avoid becoming
C) ambiguous F) implicitly mock
XGSC0307
The lecturer (i) ___________ to provide innovative insights into important issues, but her promise of
originality was more than she delivered: most of her pronouncements were (ii) ____________.
A) undertook D) platitudinous
B) hesitated E) trenchant
C) declined F) inventive
XGSC0308
Considering that experimental treatments that are (i) __________ one mouse population are, nonetheless,
ineffectual with other mice, we might reasonably conclude that many rodent studies are not (ii) __________.
A) extreme for D) conceptually innovative
B) successful for E) methodologically rigorous
C) unpredictable in F) scientifically controversial
48
XGSC0309
Seemingly (i) ___________ her reputation for tediousness, the university president (ii) ___________ the
speech she delivered.
A) intrigued by D) provoked
B) embarrassed by E) affected
C) resigned to F) expected
XGSC0310
All of these writers rely on (i) ___________ and (ii) __________ to make their argument: they take a single
idea and illustrate it with endless, rather overblown examples while avoiding any genuinely nuanced
analysis.
A) fabrication D) exaggeration
B) equivocation E) speculation
C) simplification F) prevarication
SECTION 8
XGSC0311
For many who are not philosophers, the word "metaphysics” still retains connotations of (i) __________, so
that many hard scientists still use the term as a byword for (ii) ___________ thinking.
A) impenetrability D) innovative
B) amorphousness E) imprecise
C) sterility F) simplistic
XGSC0312
Lohr’s (i) ________ the trappings of literary celebrity creates a Romantic aura for him: by distancing himself
from all public discourse about himself or his work, Lohr becomes an even greater, albeit more (ii)
________, celebrity than most authors manage in all their interviews and memoirs.
A) refusal to wear D) renowned
B) eagerness to understand E) appealing
C) inability to renounce F) mysterious
XGSC0313
49
Testing alternate versions of web pages in real time can make Internet-based companies (i)_______ some
user preferences, but that does not necessarily make those companies (ii)_______, as 10,000 ongoing
tweaks to the company web site do not add up to a fundamental change of direction when one is needed.
A) severely constrained by D) irresolute
B) rapidly responsive to E) transparent
C) surprisingly indifferent to F) agile
XGSC0314
Eighteenth-century translators who (i)_______ deviations from their source test were not (ii)_______, since
literalism in translation had been roundly denounced in the previous century.
A) concealed D) breaking new ground
B) eschewed E) asserting their allegiance
C) endorsed F) scorning textual fidelity
XGSC0315
A list is at once (i)_______ and (ii)_______; in other words, a list is simultaneously the sum of the items on it
and those individual(and often unrelated) items themselves.
A) accretive D) discontinuous
B) pragmatic E) idealistic
C) exhaustive F) incomplete
XGSC0316
Knowing that (i)_______ media attention would (ii)_______, the mayor, as soon as she learned of the
investigation into her recent fund-raising activities, made an attempt to postpone her scheduled news
conference.
A) immediate D) afford much-needed publicity
B) scant E) require her intervention
C) favorable F) likely be politically perilous
50
XGSC0317
A (i)_______ the island fox (ii)_______ its once-minuscule population: the 2,100 foxes on Santa Cruz Island
currently contain only the genetic diversity of 55 progenitors from the 1990s, reflecting severely limited
genetic variability.
A) significant threat to D) results from
B) changing feature of E) works against
C) major advantage of F) predates
XGSC0318
Although the system for collecting data about user needs is called a “customer capture method,” this
scientific-sounding terminology connotes greater (i)_______ than the method can deliver. While this
terminology de-emphasizes the (ii)_______ aspects of knowledge management processes, such elements
abound in the actual data collection.
A) neutrality D) interpretative and evaluative
B) range E) innovative and economical
C) flexibility F) frank and impartial
XGSC0319
In published autobiographies of Native Americans created through a subject’s oral narration to an editor, the
Native subject’s (i)_______ is sometimes (ii)_______. For example, Anglo editors may streamline a narrative
by eliminating what they regard as redundant elements even though repetition is sometimes an intentional
feature of Native American oral narratives.
A) rhetorical style D) effaced
B) humorous perspective E) emphasized
C) metaphorical language F) caricatured
XGSC0320
Rivers employs a remarkably (i)_______ writing style: her essays are both incisive and somewhat
(ii)_______.
A) ponderous D) mean spirited
B) insouciant E) dull
C) mordant F) obscure
SECTION 9
XGSC0381
51
Early settlers in what is today Texas noticed something unusual at a site now known to have been been hit
by a meteorite 58 million years ago: attempts to dig wells there were (i)_______ since the impact had
pulverized underlying rocks to the point where the strata could not (ii)_______.
A. futile D. be distinguished
B. catastrophic E. retain water
C. controversial F. sink farther
XGSC0382
It is a (i)_______ that information technologies such as the Internet are devoid of (ii)_______, since even
when they are not being deliberately used to promote a particular viewpoint, they often convey unexamined
political assumptions.
A. myth D. content
B. boon E. shrewdness
C. truism F. ideology
XGSC0383
The faulty memory of the investigator in Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s novel Desert Blood is a narrative strategy
meant to create suspense, but it is also a (i)_______ classic hard-boiled detective fiction, in which the
investigator’s (ii)_______ is often a key feature.
A. nod to D. biography
B. critique of E. unreliability
C. departure from F. reticence
XGSC0384
New knowledge about life on Earth that thrives in (i)_______ environments, like the dark, boiling waters near
ocean-bottom volcanic vents, has made scientists (ii)_______ the notion that life persists in the forbidding
Martian environment.
A. unknown D. more impervious to
B. diverse E. less dismissive of
C. hostile F. less sanguine about
XGSC0385
The (i)_______ of Polish immigration to Brazil are easy to (ii)_______, since at the time of the first Polish
arrivals, in the nineteenth century, Poland was partitioned, which resulted in many ethnic Poles carrying
German, Russian, or Prussian passports.
52
A. historical contexts D. misjudge
B. cultural ramifications E. justify
C. cumulative volumes F. predict
XGSC0386
Although weeds often (i)_______ and are (ii)_______ human activities, their cussedness and refusal to play
by human rules makes them subversive and the very essence of wildness.
A. follow D. unaffected by
B. thwart E. impervious to
C. ignore F. dependent on
XGSC0387
Orchestra players are not always the best judges of conductors. Not surprisingly, when evaluating
conductors they put a high premium on musicianship and (i)_______ and therefore typically gravitate toward
conductors who are both technically competent and (ii)_______. But the ability to galvanize a hundred
musicians into giving a great performance requires more than proficiency and affability.
A. collegiality D. musically innovative
B. creativity E. personally likable
C. objectivity F. consistently impartial
XGSC0388
The common conception of rap lyrics as (i)_______ may hearken to the (ii)_______ of the genre’s early
days but is entirely inaccurate today in light of the formal sophistication of Rakim, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, Nas,
and other rap artists too numerous to name.
A. unoriginal D. commercial success
B. offensive E. rebellious spirit
C. simplistic F. cursory rhymes
XGSC0389
The original German word for “fairy tale” is a diminutive that means something like “small message” or “little
tale.” The use of the diminutive form is (i)_______; it is suggestive of the (ii)_______ nature of this type of
tale.
53
A. anomalous D. magical
B. puzzling E. unassuming
C. revealing F. universal
XGSC0390
Although one researcher has lost credibility for (i)_______, there’s unfortunately no shortage of other people
who (ii)_______ neuroscience.
A. hyperbole D. ignore important trends in
B. plagiarism E. exploit moral ambiguities of
C. partisanship F. make extravagant claims about

XGSC0441
Political advertising may well be the most (i)_______ kind of advertising: political candidates are often quite
(ii)_______, yet their campaign advertisements frequently hide important differences behind smoke screens
of smiles and empty slogans.
A. obfuscatory D. dissimilar
B. transparent E. vocal
C. polemical F. ambitious
XGSC0442
It is misleading to (i)_______ the scientific literature by focusing on (ii)_______ research as the newspaper’s
science reporters have sometimes done. Forced retractions of scientific publications are, in fact, relatively
rare.
A. aggrandize D. fraudulent
B. impugn E. ground-breaking
C. paraphrase F. collaborative
XGSC0443
The existence of powerful online groups, the anonymity available to users of the Web, and a growing spirit of
(i)_______ have by now made calls to boycott certain films for their politics almost absurdly (ii)_______.
54
A. tolerance D. routine
B. ambivalence E. difficult
C. partisanship F. risky
XGSC0444
The Cassini spacecraft initially found the bodies of liquid methane on Saturn’s moon Titan to be very
(i)_______, a surprising result since the reduced surface tension and viscosity of liquid methane, as
compared to water on Earth, should make it (ii)_______ waves.
A. calm D. easier to excite
B. deep E. more difficult to measure
C. dense F. more likely to distort
XGSC0445
Over the years, George Gershwin’s jazz opera Porgy and Bess has been subject to considerable (i)
________. The composer himself cut about forty minutes from the four-hour piece between its Boston tryout
and Broadway opening, and producer Cheryl Crawford, in her immensely popular 1942 version, which
replaced recitatives with dialogue, (ii) ________ it even more.
A) debate D) streamlined
B) tinkering E) promoted
C) critique F) augmented
XGSC0446
Determining how much water is on the Moon is challenging because most detections of water are
(i)_______. One group of scientists, for instance, found that frozen volatiles—chemicals with the tendency to
vaporize—lie on the lunar surface. That these compounds contain water, however, is (ii)_______.
A. deceptive D. an inference
B. approximate E. an observation
C. indirect F. a given
XGSC0447
Although people sometimes conflate them, the Beat poetry scene and the folk-music revival were actually
(i)________ and in many ways (ii)________, despite sharing certain ancestral connections in Depression-
era left-wing politics.
55
A. distinct D. reactionary
B. influential E. inspired
C. marginal F. antagonistic
XGSC0448
While both Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison utilized photography in their pieces on Harlem’s Lafargue
Clinic, Wright relied on photography to (i)_______ the (ii)_______. Ellison, in contrast, was more seduced by
the subjective perspective photography could provide.
A. exaggerate D. accuracy of his claims
B. overshadow E. uniqueness of his approach
C. substantiate F. popularity of his writing
XGSC0449
The scientific view of the natural world is necessarily (i)_______: the tools used by science to extend into
realms beyond human sensorial reach and collect data that inform the perception of reality are (ii)_______.
A. inconstant D. generally unreliable
B. myopic E. inherently limited
C. abstruse F. continually evolving
XGSC0450
One radical approach to literary translation is to (i)_______ creating a (ii)_______ reproduction of the
original work and simply to compose a new work, but in a manner inspired by the older one.
A. despair of D. popular
B. resign oneself to E. faithful
C. aim for F. dense
第三部分：高频三空题
SECTION 1
XGSC0121
Some chemists argue that although molecular motors are (i)________, they are (ii)________ by themselves;
nevertheless, the chemical principles behind them might be (i)________: using the same light-activated
mechanism that drives certain molecular motors, researchers have developed around 100 drug-like
compounds that can be switched on or off in response to light.
56
A) intricate D) promising G) well established
B) untested E) straightforward H) highly valuable
C) appealing F) useless I) imperfectly understood
XGSC0122
As theories, quantum field theory and the theory of general relativity have been astonishingly (i)________, in
that no experiment yet has shown a crack in either of them, even though both of them (ii)________ wildly
counterintuitive properties in physical reality. And yet even proponents note that the two theories are
(iii)________, a fact that has disallowed theorists—at least so far—from incorporating both into a self-
consistent theory of quantum gravity.
A) successful D) downplay G) difficult for laypeople to

understand
B) popular E) result in H) deeply at odds with each

other
C) implausible F) posit I) similar to earlier physical

theories
XGSC0123
According to linguists and cognitive scientists, the human mind specializes in producing analogies. Part of
the reason cognitive scientists believe analogy is a (i)________ cognitive process is that drawing analogies
requires some sort of similarity mapping of one concept onto another, and similarity mapping is a component
of the inductive thinking we depend on. Another argument for the (ii)________ of analogical reasoning in
human reasoning is that metaphors, which are linguistically embedded analogies, are (iii)________
language.
A) creative D) versatility G) pervasive in
B) distinctive E) centrality H) expressed in
C) fundamental F) difficulty I) embellishments of
XGSC0124
Anonymous sources have a tendency to (i)________ the information content of news stories in which they
are quoted. Most of these sources are (ii)________ because they spin and leak selectively for political,
personal, or institutional gain; all the balancing quotations from other sources can never remove their
(iii)________.
A) contradict D) unreliable G) transparency
B) corroborate E) intransigent H) taint
C) degrade F) obsequious I) obscurity
57
XGSC0125
Proposed technological innovations aimed at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would likely be
more (iii)________ than transitioning to clean energy sources. Still, according to some energy experts, given
the political barriers to emissions reductions, and the scale of reductions needed, it is (iii)________ that
some carbon-capture technology will (iii)________ some of the worst effects of warming.
A) realistic D) unlikely G) succeed in countering
B) costly E) puzzling H) appear to exacerbate
C) effective F) inevitable I) be required to avoid
XGSC0126
The diversity of uses of the term “emotional intelligence” in popular culture has (i)________ definitional
clarity: the term has become so (ii)________ that it is (iii)________ conceptual meaning.
A) facilitated D) protean G) nearly bereft of
B) exploited E) sacrosanct H) tidily encompassed by
C) impaired F) divisive I) easily reduced to
XGSC0127
Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi is not the first to focus on Herman Kahn’s (i)________. In 1968, when Kahn was at
the height of his celebrity, a profile of him appeared that suggested Kahn had “a thoroughly (ii)________
sensibility,” meaning that Kahn was uninhibited by conventional ways of thinking about science, alert to
(iii)________ positions that were starting to seem obsolete, continually trying to find new ways to see around
the next corner.
A) originality D) stable G) abandon
B) improvidence E) abstract H) establish
C) collegiality F) avant-garde I) defend
XGSC0128
Paradigm-changing discoveries tend to have (i)_________: the more a discovery (ii)_________ the current
paradigm, the longer it takes the scientific community to (iii)_________.
A) limited early impact D) buttresses G) undermine
B) significant long-term E) deviates from H) rationalize

importance
C) questionable scientific F) incorporates I) appreciate

origins
XGSC0129
58
Organic farming is often thought of as being (i)________ by its opposition to conventional industrialized
agriculture. In truth, however, it is (ii)________ a unifying rationale for organic agriculture, and many
contemporary understandings of organic agriculture are not even (iii)________.
A) altered D) impossible to divine G) superficial
B) marginalized E) essential to recognize H) controversial
C) defined F) tempting to propose I) complementary
XGSC0130
For scientists who wish to conduct research in the national parks, the new plan promises a warm welcome in
place of the (i)_________, or even resistance, that often greets requests for research permits. The plan says
that “parks can and should be centers for broad scientific research and inquiry.” It also maintains that
scientific research should be (ii)_________ in parks where it can be performed without (iii)_________ other
park values.
A) alacrity D) circumscribed G) advertising
B) opposition E) endured H) jeopardizing
C) indifference F) facilitated I) augmenting
SECTION 2
XGSC0131
The advance of medical knowledge is not always (i)________; on the contrary, it is often the result of
(ii)________. In the 1930s, groups of doctors began to question long-enshrined treatments such as
bleeding, cupping, and purging, eventually discovering that many ailments were effectively treated by
nothing more than bed rest, nutrition, and observation. This news must have been (iii)________ to those
with a vested interest in the medical orthodoxy of the time.
A) scientific D) patient repetition G) unsurprising
B) experimental E) heretical departures H) welcome
C) cumulative F) chance discoveries I) jarring
XGSC0132
The principal reason for the scientists’ (i)________ about loon behavior was simple: they could not
(ii)_______ the individuals they studied. One might think that such a task would be (iii)________ thanks to
the intricate plumage patterns of adult loons. But while loons do display distinctions in fine plumage details,
such as the number of lines and branches in neck badges, these features can be reliably distinguished only
with the bird in hand.
59
A) enthusiasm D) identify G) pointless
B) curiosity E) control H) simple
C) ignorance F) observe I) enjoyable
XGSC0133
The analyst suggested that democratic forms of government tend to reduce public-health hazards and
provide for better health for citizens compared with nondemocratic governments. The rationale for this
hypothesis is that people are highly sensitive to threats to their health and, given real political power, will act
to reduce such threats. In societies where citizens (i)________, on the other hand, the government might
(ii)________ public-health risk factors when (iii)________ them would conflict with other priorities.
A) pay their own health D) tolerate G) overlooking

costs
B) are not politically E) document H) ameliorating

apathetic
C) have no voice in policy F) exploit I) obfuscating
XGSC0134
Campuswide discussions on academic integrity can be (i)________ by the fact that faculty and students
tend to define cheating in (ii)________ ways, Even when they concur on what cheating means, faculty and
students often assign different levels of severity to specific violations. These differences can serve as a
major (iii)________ the creation of a commonly accepted set of standards of integrity that are consistently
applied to all academic work within the campus community.
A) expedited D) disparate G) indictment of
B) obscured E) conventional H) impediment to
C) hampered F) rigid I) metaphor for
XGSC0135
Science is inherently (i)________. Whether (ii)________ a long-standing idea or showing disdain for
received political wisdom, the scientific ethic, which demands that the scientist follow the evidence wherever
it leads, is a threat to (iii)________ of all kinds.
A) subversive D) substantiating G) authorities
B) principled E) overturning H) skeptics
C) collaborative F) identifying I) methodologies
XGSC0136
60
Biographies tumble off the presses in profusion these days, a (i)________ linked, for better or worse, to the
current obsession with celebrity. Some critics complain that biographers too often (ii)________ the messy
reality of a life, and it’s true that lesser authors simply glorify or, more often, vilify their subjects. But good
biographers are far more respectful of (iii)________: the best see not one monolithic truth about a person
but many overlapping truths.
A) boom D) impose a specious G) privacy

coherence on
B) paucity E) provide excessive detail H) complexity

about
C) felicity F) are completely I) partiality

overwhelmed by
XGSC0137
Scholars of early moden India’s Mughal empire have (i)________ the role Sanskrit, India’s premier classical
tongue, played a Mughal political intellectual, and literary activities. This (ii)________ has (iii)________ the
Mughal emperors’ close relationship with the Sanskrit culture.
A) unfairly questioned D) dilemma G) complicated
B) generally ignored E) oversight H) obscured
C) often debated F) imprecision I) confirmed
XGSC0138
Common usage treats the adjectives “artificial” and “synthetic” as (i)________. But “synthetic” has meanings
that are (i)________ that everyday (iii)________ “artificial.” “Synthesis” implies the bringing together of
different components to form a union, while “artificial” is defined in opposition to the natural and does not
suggest any similar process of combination.
A) interchangeable D) required for G) subservience to
B) pejorative E) revealed in H) conflation with
C) classificatory F) betrayed by I) comparison to
XGSC0139
Scientists have devised several techniques for improving crop plants; recombinant genetic technology is just
the latest and most (i)________ of them. By contrast, another (ii)________ method—bombarding seeds with
radiation in the hope of producing (iii)________ mutations—prompted no questions about the safety of the
countless crops it produced.
61
A) unnatural D) heretofore common G) advantageous
B) ambiguous E) hotly contested H) inexpedient
C) controversial F) tentatively proposed I) virulent
XGSC0140
When potentially disruptive change appears on the horizon, managers’ approach should be to assemble the
capabilities to (i)________ that change before it affects the mainstream business. The (ii)________ to run
two businesses, one with processes attuned to the existing business model and another geared toward the
new model. While apparently onerous, this parallel operation is far less dangerous than either (iii)________
innovation irrevocably or remaining committed to tried-and-true methods that are threatened with
obsolescence.
A) obstruct D) competition might have G) jumping into
B) stimulate E) requirement is H) exploring
C) handle F) mistaken approach is I) rejecting
SECTION 3
XGSC0141
The obsidian found across the Pungaere-Upokorau area in New Zealand has previously been thought to
come from two distinct sites (Pungaere and Waiare), but considering that the visual characteristics and
chemical composition of the obsidian in the area are so (i)________, there is no reason to continue
regarding Waiare as (ii)________ source, especially in view of the fact that finds of obsidian near Waiare
settlement and in the Waiare Stream are (iii)________.
A) diverse D) a separate G) rare
B) anomalous E) the primary H) varied
C) consistent F) a declining I) abundant
XGSC0142
For decades scientists believed in the (i)________ of long-term memories; they were unstable for a few
hours but then became etched into the brain for good. Current research, however, suggests that recalling a
memory causes it to revert temporarily to an insecure state in which the recollection can be (ii)________.
Thus, memory is much more (iii)________ than scientists had previously thought it to be.
A) accuracy D) instilled G) reliable
B) immutability E) modified H) constrained
C) predictability F) observed I) fluid
XGSC0143
62
Some historians studying early encounters between Native Americans and Europeans question the
evidentiary value of Native oral traditions: they regard the information from these traditions as inadmissible
unless it can be corroborated by other means. Yet the (i)________ of evidence from Native oral traditions is
(ii)________ the criticism that the surviving documentary record may have been (iii)________, especially in
circumstances involving oppression or exploitation.
A) explication D) dependent upon G) needlessly elaborated
B) assimilation E) vulnerable to H) purposefully distorted
C) repudiation F) followed by I) thoroughly investigated
XGSC0144
The unattractive hyena is unjustly (i)________. It was long believed that when bob lions and hyenas were
present at a kill, the latter invariably stole from the former, but this notion proved to be (ii)________: we now
know that the lion is just as (iii)________ the hard-won prey of the hyena.
A) maligned D) divisive G) apt to pilfer
B) imperiled E) convoluted H) capable of overtaking
C) forgotten F) untrue I) likely to become
XGSC0145
Belief in the harmful effects of the drug has all the hallmarks of a viewpoint that is not (i)________, even
though the notion that the drug has negative consequences has been (ii)________ multiple epidemiological
studies over the past decade. Yet the true believers have (iii)________, critiquing each new study that
challenges their views and continuing to lean on supporting research that was retracted long ago.
A) amenable to refutation D) refined by G) persisted
B) driven by self-interest E) cited by H) splintered
C) capable of propagation F) upended by I) capitulated
XGSC0146
The latest encyclopedia (i)________ the (ii)________ made by many other books on how things work—
giving (iii)________ for every device, no matter how complicated—by taking just as long as is needed to
explain things.
A) repeats D) assumption G) a brief historical

background
B) exposes E) mistake H) an equal number of

words
C) avoids F) compromise I) at least one illustration
63
XGSC0147
During the past decade, there has been a quiet (i)________ research into symbioses involving
microorganisms: purely descriptive and speculative work has given way to investigations generating data
that allow for (ii)________ interpretation and thus (iii)________ unfounded speculation.
A) change in D) defensible G) reduce the tendency

toward
B) obsolescence of E) equivocal H) stimulate the growth of
C) aversion to F) sweeping I) validate the need for
XGSC0148
William Newman and Lawrence Principe point out that prior to the seventeenth century the terms “alchemy”
and “chemistry” were largely (i)________ in European usage. It was from the third decade of the eighteenth
century that the two terms began to (ii)________. Newman and Principe suggest that a third term,
“chymistry,” should be used to denote the transitional early modern phase when “alchemy” and “chemistry”
were becoming (iii)________.
A) interchangeable D) coalesce G) increasingly more

convoluted
B) absent E) proliferate H) steadily less synonymous
C) misapplied F) diverge I) fundamentally less

significant
XGSC0149
If a figure such as the editor and writer Pauline Hopkins presents (i)________challenges to a would-be
biographer because of her confounding periods of silence , largely unknown personal life, and (ii)________
papers, the problems posed by John Edward Bruce are of the opposite kind: he published(iii)________
throughout his life, had an extensive correspondence, and left a huge trove of materials at his death.
A) unpredictable D) abundant G) indefatigably
B) negligible E) meager H) sporadically
C) colossal F) lucid I) secretively
XGSC0150
The tape recorder is to blame for the (i)________ of the interview and has thus had a (ii)________ effect on
journalism. The possibility of verbatim reproduction has fostered the illusion that the voice of truth is that of
the interviewee rather than the more critically detached voice belonging to the journalist. Maybe journalists
should return to the lowly notebook, which allows them to (iii)________ while listening, relegating the tape
recorder to its real role of invaluable witness.
64
A) glorification D) negligible G) edit intelligently
B) superannuation E) pernicious H) relinquish control
C) vilification F) salutary I) transcribe exactly
SECTION 4
XGSC0151
In her book, Lyan Onlla Scott focuses on James Baldwin’s later fiction. But in doing so she does not
(i)________ the sharp division between early and late Baldwin that others have seen. On the contrary, she
demonstrates the (ii)________ in his career, even as she acknowledges that the later novels are far from
being (iii)________ his earlier works, the late fiction showing the influence of the turbulent political
environment of the late sixties and early seventies.
A) disdain D) ambiguities G) as impassioned as
B) obfuscate E) slowdown H) related to
C) perpetuate F) continuities I) recapitulations of
XGSC0152
Lasting inflation trains consumers to expect that goods will be more expensive tomorrow, so the (i)________
thing to do is buy today. When inflation is (ii)________, in other words, people believe the value of their
money is (iii)________ and act accordingly.
A) sensible D) erratic G) eroding
B) abnormal E) deferred H) unpredictable
C) brave F) entrenched I) stable
XGSC0153
Herbivorous vertebrates often influence the relative (i)________ of plants with differing palatability within an
ecosystem, even though their impact on system-level plant biomass is generally (ii)________: predators
control herbivore numbers, ensuring that the surviving herbivores have (iii)________ marginally edible
plants.
A) abundance D) uncertain G) some ability to detect
B) hardiness E) irreversible H) few reasons to avoid
C) nutritiousness F) negligible I) no need to consume
XGSC0154
65
Researchers have tried with little success, with little success, to gain an understanding of how brain activity
in roundworms gives rise to various rudimentary behaviors. The (i)________ establishing a link between
biology and behavior in humans is (ii)________. While the media routinely report on scans showing that
specific brain locations light up when we feel particular emotions or perform particular actions, the
impression given by these news stories—that current technology provides real insights into how the brain
works—is (iii)________.
A) incentive for D) still more acute G) exciting
B) difficulty of E) not as remarkable H) specious
C) controversy over F) seemingly less troubling I) ambiguous
XGSC0155
From having been (i)________ subject before the 1970s, the neuroscientific study of consciousness has
grown into (ii)________, engaging scientists all over the world. Every level of consciousness is now being
fruitfully investigated, from the most (iii)________ perceptual mechanisms, which are common to many
animals besides ourselves, to the higher reaches of memory, imagery, and self-reflective consciousness.
A) a venerated D) an Insuperable challenge G) mysterious
B) a commonplace E) an essential H) fundamental

consideration
C) an unexamined F) a controversial focus I) sophisticated
XGSC0156
When Eric Temple Bell, in his 1937 work Men of Mathematics, related the anecdote about German
mathematician Carl Gauss’s precocious summation of integers as a schoolboy, he was (i)________ one of
his (ii)________: Bell had always been praised as a highly (iii)________ writer, but in this case it
undermined his credibility as a biographer.
A) forgetting about D) literary strengths G) imaginative
B) drawing from E) profound theories H) meticulous
C) betrayed by F) earlier publications I) productive
XGSC0157
Statistics is the branch of applied mathematics that studies ways of drawing inferences from limited and
imperfect data. Of course, if all data sources were totally (i)________, statisticians could do little but
(ii)________ every conclusion with “but we could be wrong about this.” A mathematical science of statistics
is possible because, although repeating an experiment numerous times may not yield uniform results, some
results are more (iii)________ than others.
66
A) empirical D) qualify G) dubious
B) capricious E) affirm H) unexpected
C) defensible F) substantiate I) common
XGSC0158
Human brains are amazing organs but they are not perfect. Cognitive biases, as we know, sometimes
produce errors. Yet the term “error” could be (i)________ in that it suggests that there might be (ii)________
way in which cognition should work. Such a binary opposition is (iii)________.
A) corrective D) a uniquely correct G) incontrovertible
B) serviceable E) a surprisingly novel H) reductive
C) problematic F) an infinitely fluid I) warranted
XGSC0159
Guadalajara’s reputation for (i)________ is not exactly (ii)________, but it is certainly (iii)________: while
the city retains its traditional ways in many respects, it has lately developed an innovative technology sector
employing talented designers, programmers, and engineers from both Mexico and abroad.
A) unpredictability D) baseless G) overdone
B) cosmopolitanism E) harmful H) unmatched
C) stodginess F) unique I) widespread
XGSC0160
One way in which capuchin monkey alpha males maintain control over subordinate males is by being
(i)________ in their coalitionary support. In addition to breaking up coalitions and affiliative interactions
between subordinates, they are (ii)________ regarding which of the subordinate males they support,
sometimes switching multiple times in a day, such that the subordinate males (iii)________ the alpha male.
A) conspicuous D) avid G) are satisfied with their

relationship with
B) fickle E) scrupulous H) have no idea where they

stand with
C) methodical F) inconsistent I) anticipate certain favors

from
SECYION 5
XGSC0161
67
Anyone who thinks that the contemporary media's focus on celebrity gossip and rumor marks some sort of
journalistic (i)________ will find in this book (ii)________. The book shows that we live, on the contrary, in a
hitherto unexampled golden age of (iii)________.
A) nadir D) a bracing corrective G) tradition
B) frontier E) a long-overdue H) integrity

explanation
C) anomaly F) an unexpected validation I) profitability
XGSC0162
The author notes that rather than (i)________ local weaving among the Merina people of Madagascar in the
eighteenth century, the advent of textile imports stimulated (ii)________: by the close of the eighteenth
century, Merina weavers were not only (iii)________ foreign textiles but also incorporating exotic materials,
such as coral, silver disks, and glass beads, into their weaving.
A) safeguarding D) production and G) boycotting

innovation
B) dampening E) resentment and H) collecting

disapproval
C) promoting F) pride and envy I) outcompeting
XGSC0163
Although the venerable paradigm of the balance of nature is (i)________ scientists studying evolution and
ecology, the idea is aesthetically (ii)_______, a fact that is largely responsible for its (iii)________ through
the ages.
A) clearly foundational for D) satisfying G) neglect
B) variously interpreted by E) contrived H) resilience
C) essentially worthless to F) outmoded I) development
XGSC0164
Recently, we have seen the emergence of the food movement, or perhaps we should say “movements,
since it is (i)________ as yet by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of
reform because its social or environmental or public health or animal welfare or gastronomic costs are too
high. As that list suggests, the activists are coming at the issue (ii)________. Where many social
movements, over time, break into various factions representing differing concerns or tactics, the food
movement has been (iii)________ from its beginning.
68
A) tempered D) in increasing numbers G) ideological
B) impeded E) from divergent directions H) splintered
C) unified F) with renewed I) effective

commitment
XGSC0165
Reading Frankfurt’s book, I worried that in the absence of specific examples or nuanced analysis, the
unnamed postmodernists who are so (i)________ in it might feel that they have been tarred by superficial
and unsubstantiated generalizations, Of course, postmodernism is something of a (ii)________ these days,
and many readers may feel that no insult is too gross to heap on it. It arouses the same (iii)_______ that
used to be aroused by idealism and skepticism.
A) meticulously critiqued D) scapegoat G) curiosity
B) enthusiastically vilified E) model H) indifference
C) earnestly championed F) mystery I) horror
XGSC0166
Unlike other anthologies of Asian American literature, this one is organized solely by alphabetical order of
the authors’ last names rather than along chronological or ethnic lines While this decision is not explained, it
Is not in itself (i)________. More troubling is that similarly shrouded in editorial (ii)________ is the question
of why these particular writers were selected and others excluded, for which some (iii)________ was clearly
employ.
A) comprehensible D) respectability G) detachment
B) distinctive E) silence H) rationale
C) problematic F) convention I) action
XGSC0167
Although genes certainly do play a role in our fates, there is little about us that is completely destined. Our
genes are among the factors that determine the realm of possibility for each of us, but that realm us so
(i)________, its boundaries so (ii)_________, that for the most part genes are (iii)________.
A) alien D) constricting G) oppressive
B) large E) impermeable H) conspicuous
C) distressing F) mysterious I) irrelevant
XGSC0168
69
The fantastic conceit of the film’s plot is that global warming (i)________ global freezing After a chunk of
Antarctic ice the size of Rhode Island suddenly melts, most of what follows an instant ice age, for example—
is impossible as science but not as metaphor The data from the Greenland ice sheet show that, over the
past hundred thousand years, temperatures have often (ii)________ —so often that it is our own relatively
static experience of climate that should now be seen as (iii)________.
A) succeeds D) swung wildly G) humdrum
B) inhibits E) changed gradually H) exceptional
C) produces F) seemed unvarying I) authentic
XGSC0169
Temperature-dependent sex determination commonly occurs in reptiles, especially crocodiles, turtles, and
some lizards. This mechanism, in which offspring sex is determined by incubation temperature, has
generally been (i)________ in studies on birds for one main reason. Birds usually directly incubate their
eggs with their own body heat and regulate egg temperature tightly because their eggs tolerate only a
relatively narrow range of incubation temperatures. Hence, (ii)________ the incubation temperature of bird
eggs (iii)________.
A) adapted D) manipulating G) may prove shortsighted
B) dismissed E) measuring H) would seem

impracticable
C) observed F) neglecting I) could yield important

insights
XGSC0170
The extant evidence of Pluto’s collisions with other cosmic objects over time is (i)________. When Pluto is
closest to the Sun, frozen surface material evaporates into a temporary atmosphere and eventually into
space. This process (ii)________ older impact craters, so Pluto’s surface provides a record of (iii)________
collisions.
A) incomplete D) erases G) only recent
B) indirect E) bypasses H) many major
C) inconclusive F) deepens I) some unknown
SECTION 6
XGSC0321
Some scholars have interpreted marks incised on pottery during the Neolithic period, some nearly 6,000
years old, as the (i) __________ of writing. But while the marks do appear to have been meaningful
symbols, and while the use of symbols is (ii) __________ writing, there is (iii) __________ that the pottery
symbols evolved into a true script.
70
A) posterity D) sufficient for G) little serious doubt
B) forerunner E) a prerequisite for H) continuing strong belief
C) elaboration F) distinct from I) no firm evidence
XGSC0322
Among the rising generation of concert pianists, a (i) ___________ approach to performance is sadly (ii)
__________. Too often, young pianists have acquired such an approach from their teachers, the very people
who should be pointing that the flailing arm, the contorted brow, the bulging eye, and the balletic upper torso
are (iii) __________ work in a business best devoted to doing the most with the least.
A) histrionic D) passe G) extraneous
B) stately E) endangered H) respected
C) languid F) pervasive I) stylish
XGSC0323
The recent surge of public interest in ecotourism has sparked a major debate because of growing
awareness that the ecotourism industry is not as (i) __________ as initially believed. Studies conducted
around the world reveal many cases where ecotourism (ii) __________ the ideals (iii) __________ the
environmentally friendly principles it promotes.
A) extensive D) transcends G) extraneous to
B) benign E) falls short of H) inherent in
C) ebullient F) disallows I) inimical to
XGSC0324
The only way to definitively test a large civil engineering structure such as a bridge is to build it in
anticipation of possible challenges from nature and then let nature take its course. That is not to say that
every new large structure is a (i) __________. Engineers understand a great deal about the behavior and
limitations of their structures’ components. Furthermore, it is the (ii) __________ structure that is built more
than 10 or 20 percent larger than its predecessors, thus allowing engineers to move (iii) __________ into
unknown territory.
A) success D) conventional G) incrementally
B) gamble E) unusual H) unchecked
C) mistake F) outstanding I) enthusiastically
XGSC0325
71
Despite the (i)_______ nature of contemporary science, the (ii)_______ of many individuals (iii)_______: the
work of women and minority scientists has too often been exploited or deemed rudimentary and unworthy of
inclusion into science history books.
A) Collaborative D) motivations G) manifest themselves
B) controversial E) contributions H) point to a solution
C) sophisticated F) idiosyncrasies I) remain overlooked
XGSC0326
The study found that every child has his or her own highly (i)_______ daily level of activity. It is not affected
by school physical education, or whether the child walks or drives to school, or how much time the child
spends in front of a television. We don’t know what determines this (ii)_______ activity level. But
engineering the environment to require more activity (iii)_______ children whose nature is to be inactive.
A) unpredictable D) intrinsic G) is likely to encourage
B) consistent E) problematic H) will be misunderstood by
C) productive F) heightened I) will have little impact on
XGSC0327
One strategy lawyers use to undermine unfavorable scientific or expert testimony is to present conflicting
testimony even when the basis for that testimony is (i)_______. The goal in such testimony is to make
claims that have (ii)_______, even if the science (or supposed science) underlying those claims must rightly
be considered (iii)_______.
A) unacknowledged D) somewhat controversial G) salient

origins
B) axiomatic E) many possible H) dubious

interpretations
C) tenuous F) some appearance of I) incontrovertible

credibility
XGSC0328
Zadie Smith’s fictional portrayal of the academic scene is not quite as (i)_______ as that in Francine Prose’s
Blue Angel-a book in which virtually everything about the novel’s college proves to be hateful and
oppressive. But itis certainly actuated by a plague-on-both-your-houses feeling, evident in the pairing of the
mealymouthed, ineffectual progressive and the arrogant, self-admiring conservative. Although Smith’s
attitude has a basis in reality, the academy, like other spheres of life, is more (ii)_______ than such
(iii)_______ allows.
72
A) antiquated D) self-regarding G) schematic disdain
B) pedestrian E) complicated H) extravagant embroidering
C) vitriolic F) radical I) slanted partisanship
XGSC0329
The world we inhabit is extremely rich in detail and may be very complex. (i)_______, when solving a
problem or executing a task, (ii)_______ aspects of the reality are (iii)_______: for instance, when one is
planning a flight, the physical attributes of the aircraft, such as color or the exact shape and size, are
irrelevant and can be ignored.
A) Therefore D) many other G) obvious
B) Surprisingly E) all these H) confusing
C) Fortunately F) only some I) material
XGSC0330
Inevitably, some prominent authors are seen as (i)_______. Toni Morrison, for one, (ii)_______ the
(iii)_______ by acknowledging that her Nobel Prize belonged not only to her but to Black women writers
collectively.
A) representatives of a D) embraced G) disadvantage

community
B) authorities on a subject E) anticipated H) opposition
C) sources of controversy F) challenged I) responsibility
SECTION 7
XGSC0391
Despite clamoring in the legislature and among the population at large for (i)_______, the president seems
determined to (ii)_______ moves to loosen the restrictions he has imposed on new industrial development in
the country. His actions are based on strong personal beliefs about the importance of preserving nature.
However much such convictions (iii)_______, it is nevertheless wrong to impose them arbitrarily on this
pluralistic nation.
A. controls D. consider G. seem irrelevant
B. growth E. thwart H. remain inviolable
C. decisiveness F. reinforce I. deserve respect
XGSC0392
73
Quantum mechanics provides an overarching framework that would appear to apply to any physical
process, no matter at what scale. Thus, many physicists are (i)_______ its (ii)_______, seemingly not
(iii)_______ many extremely odd conclusions that arise when quantum mechanics is applied to everyday
experience.
A. surprised by D. theoretical complexity G. bothered by
B. convinced of E. universal validity H. prepared for
C. familiar with F. gradual ascendance I. immune to
XGSC0393
Scientists cannot directly measure heat conductivity in Earth’s iron core, nor can they replicate such extreme
conditions in the laboratory. This circumstance is (i)_______, however, if we (ii)_______ iron’s conductivity
behavior in experimental and real-world conditions: then, core conductivity can be (iii)_______ results of
conductivity experiments performed at lower temperatures in a laboratory.
A. unfortunate D. discount variations in G. inferred from
B. understandable E. assume consistency in H. compared to
C. surmountable F. manipulate degrees of I. influenced by
XGSC0394
Every few years, as a reviewer, one encounters a novel whose (i)_______ are so many in number, and so
(ii)_______, that to correct them fully would produce a text that exceeded the novel itself in length. Faced
with such a book, one wishes only to let it slip quietly to the seabed of culture, there to join thousands of
other (iii)_______ books in their slow disintegration.
A. felicities D. thoroughgoing G. profound
B. ineptitudes E. innocuous H. incompetent
C. curiosities F. delightful I. indispensable
XGSC0395
In 1893 Behring advanced the notion that some individuals have specific predispositions to certain diseases,
(i)_______ the notion that “it is the organism and not the microbe that makes the disease.” Thus, even when
the pathogen that causes tuberculosis was (ii)_______, physicians continued to invoke notions of
individuals’ physiological constitutions to explain (iii)________ it.
A. confuting D. replicated G. widespread public fear of
B. bolstering E. identified H. common myths about
C. misinterpreting F. contained I. differential susceptibility to
XGSC0396
74
It has long been a tradition in English Studies for different paradigms of literary interpretation, with their
different ways of understanding literary texts, to pursue their activities side by side, even though they
produce (i)_______ explanations of the same work. Although for some, this theoretical (ii)_______ has been
an indication of disciplinary (iii)_______, for others it stands as testimony to the intellectual vibrancy of the
discipline.
A. arcane D. pluralism G. homogeneity
B. repetitious E. populism H. redundancy
C. incompatible F. rigidity I. weakness
XGSC0397
Unlike the definitions of words in a natural language, mathematical definitions are (i)_______ rather than
extracted. Thus, while the extracted definitions of natural-language words (ii)_______ the current usage,
mathematical definitions are created on the advice of experts and (iii)_______ how a word shall be used and
what it shall mean.
A. stipulative D. evaluate G. deduce
B. impenetrable E. describe H. distinguish
C. indispensable F. anticipate I. prescribe
XGSC0398
Computers triumphed at chess not by (i)_______ human thought, but by playing like machines. The analogy
with flight is (ii)_______: as long as people tried to fly by imitating birds, they were doomed to failure, once
they (iii)_______ the paradigm of the familiar, however, they were soon flying much faster than birds.
A. disregarding D. deceptive G. discovered
B. validating E. unnecessary H. escaped
C. aping F. instructive I. understood
XGSC0399
The fashion industry differs from many other areas of creative endeavor in lacking legal protection for
original designs, yet the absence of penalties for copying is (i)_______ the industry as a whole. The
industry’s practice of copying and reworking attractive new designs (ii)_______ the fashion cycle because it
diffuses designs more quickly to the general public, thus (iii)_______, which stimulates the search for new
ideas and starts the fashion cycle all over again.
75
A. remediable by D. reflects G. hastening their

obsolescence
B. advantageous for E. complicates H. disguising their

unpopularity
C. unacknowledged among F. accelerates I. mitigating their

derivativeness
XGSC0400
The good news is that even though the new program sounds quite (i)_______, it is technologically
(ii)_______. The transformation will take decades, even generations, to complete, but industrial experts
affirm that it is achievable. Starting promptly on this historic commitment will obviate, or at least (iii)_______,
the larger catastrophes ahead.
A. daunting D. feasible G. precipitate
B. banal E. intimidating H. mitigate
C. straightforward F. dreary I. preclude

XGSC0451
Many people today blame science and technology for contributing to environmental degradation and to
global warming. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of our time is that the relentless (i)_______ of the
power of science is paralleled by a growing sense of (ii)_______ about science. Anyone old enough to recall
the public’s enthusiasm for so many of the scientific breakthroughs in the 1950s and 1960s will be struck by
the more (iii)_______, even fearful, attitude toward scientific developments at present.
A. stagnation D. distrust G. pragmatic
B. expansion E. promise H. fervid
C. diminution F. complacency I. grudging
XGSC0452
A comparison of satellite data from 1970 to 1996 found a steady decline in the amount of energy escaping
Earth into space at the wavelengths that greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere absorb. (i)_______
indications of (ii)_______ incoming solar energy, these findings (iii)_______ direct experimental evidence for
a significant increase in Earth’s greenhouse effect, that is, the planet’s retention of heat as a result of
greenhouse gases.
76
A. Given the compelling D. innovative uses for G. constitute
B. Based on E. a reduction in H. contravene
C. In the absence of F. a dependence on I. complicate
XGSC0453
Our contemporary preference for natural expression over artifice is (i)_______ the traditional Western view
that the skill with which you expressed a position corresponded closely to the credibility of your argument.
Rhetorical styles might vary, but style itself was never a matter of (ii)_______. And “style” was not just a well-
turned sentence: poor expression, it was believed, (iii)_______ poor thought.
A. a departure from D. substance G. ameliorated
B. a reflection on E. indifference H. elevated
C. an endorsement of F. intention I. betrayed
XGSC0454
Literary fiction is (i)_______ genre fiction. Why? Because its plots are less predictable, its characters
deeper, its reality (ii)_______ actual reality. That, at least, is the commonly held view, shared even by
readers, and writers, of genre fiction-or so it appears from their readiness to (iii)_______ their tastes. But
many new “serious” novels are just as constrained by their genre as any multivolume fantasy epic or cheap
romance.
A. superior to D. closer to G. defend
B. parasitical upon E. divorced from H. satisfy
C. less demanding than F. simpler than I. apologize for
XGSC0455
Many animals use camouflage to avoid becoming prey, with markings that blend into the background so that
predators cannot (i)_______ them. But there may be another, (ii)_______ approach to keeping predators at
bay. Some animals have “dazzle” markings—stripes, zigzags, or other high-contrast patterns on their skin or
fur—that make it (iii)_______ for a predator to judge their speed or trajectory while moving.
A. avoid D. quite opposite G. possible
B. surprise E. somewhat similar H. difficult
C. identify F. surprisingly vicious I. unnecessary
XGSC0456
77
While many tools can automatically locate patterns in large data sets, they cannot yet distinguish truly
significant patterns from those that are (i)_______. Thus statisticians, who by virtue of their training are
(ii)_______ identifying (iii)_______ interpretations of patterns in data, must increasingly bear the burden of
scrutinizing data and challenging conclusions based on statistical flukes.
A. exceptionally rare D. biased against G. spurious
B. merely fortuitous E. adept at H. abstract
C. not expected F. discouraged from I. conventional
XGSC0457
Elephants are known to use a wide variety of calls, many of them infrasonic (below the level of human
hearing), in coordinating group behavior. The infrasonic calls usually have a component that is (i)_______,
but these higher frequency aspects of the calls (ii)_______ very quickly with distance, so that in the wild,
human observers are often (iii)_______ sudden coordinated movements of large groups of elephants when
no signal was apparent to the observer.
A. somewhat muted D. attenuate G. alert to
B. distinctly sonorous E. repeat H. ignorant of
C. humanly audible F. differentiate I. astonished by
XGSC0458
Unlike news reports, theater isn’t expected to stick to the facts. Built on a sandy foundation of make-believe
and (i)_______, the form, by nature, traffics in (ii)_______. Good documentary drama exploits its inherent
paradox: creating artifice from verbatim texts, it uncovers truths by playing on the tension between what’s
real and what’s (iii)_______.
A. zeal D. illusion G. remarkable
B. pretense E. controversy H. invented
C. optimism F. platitudes I. predictable
XGSC0459
One of the most widespread traits among animals is (i)_______. It runs from (ii)_______, such as yawning
when others yawn, to emotional (iii)_______, in which the self resonates with fear or joy when it picks up
fear or joy in others.
A. selfishness D. mimicry G. antagonism
B. wariness E. lethargy H. indifference
C. empathy F. dissimulation I. contagion
XGSC0460
78
When there is less natural dust blowing into eastern China, the air quality for millions of people there
(i)_______: natural dust plays an important role in determining air temperatures and thereby promotes winds
to (ii)_______ human-made pollution. Less natural dust, therefore, means the air becomes (iii)_______, with
pollution becoming more concentrated and sticking around longer.
A. worsens D. accumulate G. more unsettled
B. fluctuates E. exacerbate H. increasingly stagnant
C. improves F. disperse I. less stable

XGSC0461
A recent finding suggests that all songbirds have an extra chromosome, called the germline-restricted
chromosome (GRC), that does not appear to exist in nonsinging birds. Other organisms have previously
been found to carry extra chromosomes (called B chromosomes), but their occurrence is (i)_______, varying
between members of the same species or even between different cells in the same individual. The GRC, in
contrast, is (ii)_______ element in the germline of songbirds; this (iii)_______ suggests that the GRC is
more influential than are B chromosomes.
A. erratic D. an obligatory G. ubiquity
B. unnecessary E. an unpredictable H. inconsistency
C. deleterious F. a valuable I. redundancy
XGSC0462
In 2001, French seismologist Philippe Guédguen realized that tall buildings could (i)_______ during an
earthquake. Such buildings create secondary waves in the ground around them, (ii)_______ the shaking
from the earthquake but (iii)_______ the original surface waves. This suggests that swaying high-rise towers
would redistribute the earthquake energy.
A. provide protection D. exaggerating G. focusing
B. require monitoring E. resisting H. mirroring
C. behave unpredictably F. prolonging I. muting
XGSC0463
Global use of the pesticide DDT has been (i)_______ since the 1970s, so it’s natural to expect that over
time, (ii)_______ of it would find its way into living creatures. And that has generally been the case. But
among Antarctica’s Adélie penguins, DDT levels have remained essentially unchanged. Researchers believe
that Antarctic glaciers, which would have accumulated DDT through atmospheric deposition before its use
was (iii)_______, are delivering the pesticide into the food chain through meltwater.
79
A. tracked D. some G. restricted
B. curtailed E. less H. legalized
C. intensifying F. more I. examined
XGSC0464
People often assume that individuals (i)_______ their pain-induced facial expressions than they actually do
and are more likely to offer help or sympathy to those whose expressions are (ii)_______. More (iii)_______
expressions are interpreted as deliberately amplified and as indications of malingering.
A. have more control over D. mild G. fleeting
B. have less awareness of E. legible H. emphatic
C. experience less distress F. distinctive I. ambiguous

from
XGSC0465
Olfaction is our (i)_______ sense, depending on messages carried not at the speed of light or of sound, but
at the (ii)_______ pace of a passing breeze. Yet olfaction is also our (iii)_______ sense. Whereas signals
detected by our eyes and ears must be assimilated by the thalamus before reaching the brain’s interpretive
regions, odoriferous messages travel dedicated pathways straight from the nose to the cortex for instant
processing.
A. slow D. highly random G. trickiest
B. essential E. far statelier H. quickest
C. primitive F. somewhat overwhelming I. most unreliable
XGSC0466
Climate change is posited to be a frequent factor in mass extinctions by some scientists who speculate that
minor climate shifts can trigger a catastrophic cascade of effects. Although this pattern is (i)________ in that
it confirms warnings about our own possibly dire future, it is also somehow (ii)________, as it sets forth a
context for today’s turbulent weather as (iii)________ in a natural, cyclical process.
A. alarming D. contradictory G. unanticipated
B. eccentric E. reassuring H. unpredictable
C. contentious F. disquieting I. unexceptional
XGSC0467
The chocolate company’s scientists hoped that once they had (i)________ the chemical makeup of cocoa
beans, the knowledge would enable them to produce (ii)________ the beans' taste, which could then be
used to (iii)________ future failures in the cocoa bean supply
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A. altered D. subtle transformations in G. prevent
B. unlocked E. accurate descriptions of H. mitigate
C. activated F. a synthetic replication of I. restrict
XGSC0468
In their cool and self-effacing design, Dutt’s new galleries for the museum (i)________ their contents
completely. For example, Dutt is best known for creating effects with natural light, but in these galleries this
light is purposefully (ii)________, as protection of the fragile exhibits is a primary design (iii)________.
A. condescend to D. amplified G. mechanism
B. defer to E. excluded H. flaw
C. rise above F. condemned I. goal
XGSC0469
It is hard to (i)_______ the notion that the quail or monkey sounding off when it perceives a predator intends
its action to cause its fellows to flee. However, according to Matson, instinctive actions are not (ii)_______,
so if the warning cries are instinctive, as most if not all of them evidently are, they must be considered
(iii)_______.
A. resis D. predictable G. similar across species
B. swallow E. purposeful H. devoid of meaning
C. rationalize F. uncommon I. beneficial to the individual
XGSC0470
The guarantee of academic freedom to professors is intended to encourage intellectual independence. But
so long as faculty members receive training in a specific academic discipline and are appointed to positions
defined by discipline, and so long as colleges and universities are organized by departments that (i)_______
long-standing disciplinary traditions, academic freedom will also (ii)_______ unique discipline-specific
expectations. Yet the right to (iii)_______ disciplinary paradigms is also fundamental to academic freedom.
A. flout D. tend to embody G. resist
B. inherit E. fail to communicate H. delineate
C. reinvent F. begin to transcend I. perpetuate
第四部分：高频六选二
SECTION 1
XGSC0171
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The author first accused the official of espionage in a 1981 book, and—though the case was far from
________, full of suppositions rather than compelling evidence—the accusation has been repeated
relentlessly ever since.
A) unambitious
B) unconvincing
C) unassailable
D) implausible
E) coherent
F) airtight
XGSC0172
This book indulges in a number of convenient ________, including its dubious timeline and its veneer of
collective authorship.
A) fictions
B) contradictions
C) analyses
D) reminiscences
E) refutations
F) inventions
XGSC0173
The climate researchers’ ________ method of presentation caused a stir among those who felt that scientific
papers should be dispassionate in their delivery of evidence.
A) prejudicial
B) slapdash
C) tendentious
D) perfunctory
E) meticulous
F) incohesive
XGSC0174
Painfully aware that his inquiry betrayed his ignorance, Desmond could not help feeling he had earned the
________ glance the shop assistant directed at him.
A) contemptuous
B) supercilious
C) furtive
D) sedulous
E) conspirator
F) ingratiating
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XGSC0175
The developmental track for human beings—from rudimentary awareness to complex forms of rational
agency—is quite ________: development proceeds with even minimally good physical and psychological
health in any minimally favorable environment.
A) sophisticated
B) contingent
C) robust
D) situational
E) elusive
F) reliable
XGSC0176
Jamie offered to loan her classmate a pencil, on the condition that in three days he repay her with two boxes
of brand-new pencils: who would have believed that such ________ would exist among the young?
A) largesse
B) rapacity
C) hedonism
D) munificence
E) exaction
F) altruism
XGSC0177
Ancient coins displayed in museums are almost by definition ________, on display precisely because they
are the most beautiful, the most elaborate, and the best-preserved samples.
A) diverse
B) atypical
C) Precious
D) exceptional
E) disparate
F) enigmatic
XGSC0178
Until the late 1990s, the company had a strict policy ________ personal phone calls during working hours.
A) proscribing
B) condoning
C) indulging
D) admitting
E) enjoining
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F) divulging
XGSC0179
As much as we may like to believe that mother animals are designed to nurture and protect their young, in
fact, nature abounds with mothers that ________ the standard maternal script.
A) undermine
B) revise
C) defy
D) accept
E) flout
F) comply with
XGSC0180
Looking back on a project that they had approached with both great ________ and considerable aspirations,
they were amused to recognize that neither the fears nor the hopes had been at all realistic.
A) purpose
B) talent
C) abilities
D) trepidation
E) misgivings
F) ambition
SECTION 2
XGSC0181
The actor was quick to warn new members of the cast that the director’s cherubic countenance belied
________ temperament.
A) a deceitful
B) a choleric
C) a morose
D) an imperious
E) a vengeful
F) an irascible
XGSC0182
Picasso’s habit of keeping every last scrap of paper was not entirely a good thing: he left so much of it that
his own archives can seem to ________ any view of the man.
A) corroborate
B) reflect
C) elucidate
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D) inspire
E) confirm
F) illuminate
XGSC0183
Since it is an incredible challenge to detect dark matter directly, scientists have ________ its existence from
its gravitational effects on shaping galaxies and other large-scale structures.
A) isolated
B) confirmed
C) inferred
D) surmised
E) documented
F) hypothesized
XGSC0184
The television network seems to regard its longest-running comedy show as ________, keeping it in the
schedule even as the humor it churns out is notoriously hit-or-miss.
A) flourishing
B) outdated
C) inviolable
D) archaic
E) sacrosanct
F) immovable
XGSC0185
In Roth’s fiction, politics is an element that doesn’t naturally occur in _________ form but is always getting
confused and mixed up with shame and anger, baseball and sex.
A) an unalloyed
B) an unease
C) an uncontroversial
D) an objective
E) a neat
F) a tendentious
XGSC0186
The fear that otherwise ________ economies could fall victim to external shocks is one of the scariest
aspects of the world’s economic troubles and one of the most portentous.
A) insignificant
B) small
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C) progressive
D) robust
E) mature
F) healthy
XGSC0187
While there is no evidence that Bigfoot is real, several well-known species were once thought to be
________; the okapi, for instance, was known as the “African unicorn” until explorers obtained proof of its
existence.
A) threatened
B) fabulous
C) extinct
D) defunct
E) legendary
F) secretive
XGSC0188
Responsibility for the nation’s decline rests squarely with a people who take for granted their claims to
preeminence but do not ________ interest in or commitment to actually maintaining it.
A) foresee
B) rebuff
C) evince
D) reject
E) predict
F) betray
XGSC0189
Analysis of the structural features that were thought to ________ kinship between the two species prompted
an investigation that dispelled that presumption and revealed that the two do share a family history.
A) signify
B) underrate
C) point to
D) preclude
E) rule out
F) exaggerate
XGSC0190
Despite the rather ________ conditions required for its preservation, the evidence for glaciation during the
late Proterozoic is found on every continent, suggesting that ice sheets were present throughout the globe.
A) unusual
86
B) hostile
C) drastic
D) stringent
E) exacting
F) complex
SECTION 3
XGSC0191
Fedigan argues that, in actuality, ethologists who claim to ________ anthropomorphism often end up simply
substituting one set of anthropomorphic terms for another.
A) eschew
B) defend
C) support
D) appreciate
E) denounce
F) avoid
XGSC0192
Robert McCance and Elsie Widdowson's The Chemical Composition of Foods, published in 1940, contained
an extraordinary fifteen thousand entries, making it the first collection of nutritional int intermation for cooked
and raw foods that could be considered ________.
A) expurgated
B) accessible
C) substantiated
D) exhaustive
E) comprehensive
F) authenticated
XGSC0193
An academic with a questionable record in either teaching, administration, or research may still be well
regarded at many schools, but simultaneous failure in all three areas normally results in ________ by
superiors.
A) exculpation
B) dismissal
C) impeachment
D) disapprobation
E) censure
F) acquittal
87
XGSC0194
Proponents of the legislation argued that its critics’ valid but minor points did not ________ the assertion that
the bill would be far more beneficial than hurtful to the nation’s citizens.
A) revoke
B) bolster
C) vitiate
D) undercut
E) address
F) legitimize
XGSC0195
The manufacturing company’s swift maneuver enabled it to evade the full impact of the increasing cost of
raw materials, which brought the downfall of firms that responded less ________.
A) ruthlessly
B) deftly
C) adroitly
D) carefully
E) extravagantly
F) cautiously
XGSC0196
Epidemiological studies have found that tea drinkers face a lower risk of heart attacks than do people who
________ the brew.
A) eschew
B) appreciate
C) imbibe
D) forswear
E) quaff
F) ferment
XGSC0197
The final chapter of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, in which de Beauvoir argues that only economic
self-sufficiency can release women from subordination, was one of the ________ texts that revolutionized
the women’s movement of the sixties and seventies.
A) inspirational
B) animating
C) introductory
D) inessential
E) inscrutable
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F) trivial
XGSC0198
As modern organizations amass more and more digital information, they need guidance on how to deal with
the information surplus in a way that is more ________ than simply increasing their storage capacity.
A) sustainable
B) onerous
C) judicious
D) discriminating
E) parsimonious
F) prohibitive
XGSC0199
In a newly formed group of people, the hierarchy that emerges may be entirely ________, but group
members will nevertheless tend to construct after-the-fact rationalizations for why those in charge should be
in charge.
A) predictable
B) haphazard
C) abstract
D) arbitrary
E) dysfunctional
F) theoretical
XGSC0200
Although pleased to gain recognition by the Royal Society in 1945, Marjory Stephenson privately ________
the way career scientists (always male) jockeyed for recognition and reputation rather than simply getting on
with their work.
A) questioned
B) envied
C) disparaged
D) bemoaned
E) begrudged
F) mocked
SECTION 4
XGSC0201
Although some literary scholars may express disdain for works meant for popular audiences, only the most
________ proponent of so-called great literature could dismiss the works in a recent anthology of African
science fiction as formulaic pulp.
A) radical
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B) pedantic
C) oblivious
D) hidebound
E) illiberal
F) charitable
XGSC0202
Even though no other urban center on Earth thrived for so long, the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk
remains ________ in comparison with its more famous neighbor, Babylon.
A) prominent
B) obscure
C) unknown
D) ornate
E) popular
F) prosperous
XGSC0203
Fungi are a basic component of every ecosystem, and their importance cannot be _______, but mycologists
generally lack an understanding of which fungi are present in oceans and what roles they play.
A) gainsaid
B) underestimated
C) calculated
D) disputed
E) exaggerated
F) matched
XGSC0204
Physicians today increasingly rely on endoscopic surgery, replacing large scalpels and clamps with cameras
and with tools whose ________ enables them to snake into the body through tiny holes.
A) flexibility
B) rigidity
C) magnitude
D) suppleness
E) enormity
F) precision
XGSC0205
The airline might receive fewer complaints if it got passengers to their destinations on time: in the past few
years, only one airline has been more ________.
90
A) unprofitable
B) aggressive
C) remiss
D) dilatory
E) impeccable
F) assiduous
XGSC0206
Debates over technologies often ________ their development: we can reflect on many of the social and
ethical issues that the possibility of geoengineering the climate raises right as these technologies are coming
into existence.
A) misrepresent
B) anticipate
C) facilitate
D) permeate
E) inform
F) impede
XGSC0207
Laboratory experiments testing whether memories can be purposely erased or implanted seem decidedly
________ compared to the sensational depictions of memory manipulation in movies, but such research has
nevertheless yielded dramatic results.
A) sinister
B) outdated
C) ominous
D) prosaic
E) frivolous
F) pedestrian
XGSC0208
Scholars of the civil rights movement have often characterized it as springing from social, political, and
economic structures ________ the South, thus overlooking the tradition of civil rights activism in other
regions of the country.
A) originating in
B) imposed on
C) perpetuated by
D) unique to
E) characteristic of
F) detrimental to
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XGSC0209
The fact that no single Cantonese dictionary is seen as _____________ is one of the main reasons why
most Hong Kong authors do not depend on formal reference tools when writing in Cantonese.
A) dependable
B) authoritative
C) meticulous
D) indefinite
E) topical
F) comprehensive
XGSC0210
Song, speech, and music are typically one in the blues: the instrument complements the voice, and though
they may play instrumental solos, the most ________ blues artists sing through both voice and instrument.
A) characteristic
B) innovative
C) original
D) emblematic
E) reminiscent
F) nostalgic
SECTION 5
XGSC0211
While the coauthors of the new guide to the American artistic experience have received accolades for their
wide-ranging work, they do not ________ that the publication is exhaustive in content.
A) hope
B) care
C) assert
D) insist
E) doubt
F) question
XGSC0212
Among some demographic groups, the Internet is ________: almost everybody who wants Internet access
has it.
A) necessary
B) indispensable
C) irresistible
D) pervasive
92
E) ubiquitous
F) homogeneous
XGSC0213
There are several strange______ in the book India; for instance, though subtitled An Intimate Biography of
1.2 Billion People, it finds no place for the nearly 800 million Indians who depend on agriculture for a living.
A) elisions
B) omissions
C) censures
D) critiques
E) biases
F) digressions
XGSC0214
Journal editors note that the peer review process has difficulty detecting ________: deliberate
misinformation, if it is clever enough, might sail right through no matter how scrupulous the reviews.
A) bias
B) inconsistency
C) fraud
D) negligence
E) duplicity
F) carelessness
XGSC0215
The rebellion was ________ one, driven less by ardor than by reason and calculation.
A) a cerebral
B) a dispassionate
C) a rash
D) an idealistic
E) a cautious
F) a reckless
XGSC0216
A fixed definition of the Arctic Circle is_______: the circle is not unchanging but varies over about 2° during
40,000-year cycles caused by wobbles in the angle of the Earth’s axis.
A) misleading
B) feasible
C) essential
D) possible
93
E) illusory
F) indispensable
XGSC0217
Meteorology is one of the few fields of applied science that demands prediction; since prediction involves
considerable uncertainty and uncertainty is ________ scientists, meteorology will continue to exist in a
fraught intellectual space.
A) mysterious to
B) anathema to
C) discredited by
D) pivotal for
E) repellent to
F) familiar to
XGSC0218
Throughout human history, intelligence and consciousness have been ________ concepts: those
possessing much of the former are assumed, in some ill-defined way, to be more conscious than those less
astute.
A) disputed
B) allied
C) conflated
D) loaded
E) contested
F) misjudged
XGSC0219
As a muralist, John Thomas Biggers followed his own voice exclusively; absorbed by personal artistic
challenges, he devoted ________ attention to prevailing trends in the art world.
A) occasional
B) scant
C) obsessive
D) grudging
E) little
F) eager
XGSC0220
Asteroids of diameter less than 100 km never melted, but asteroids with larger diameters did so and became
________ with the heavier Fe-Ni material forming the core and the silicates forming the crust.
A) stratified
B) destabilized
94
C) weakened
D) liquefied
E) differentiated
F) distinguished
SECTION 6
XGSC0221
The folktale is perhaps the most ________ form of literature: a story that everyone is free to tell and
embellish because it belongs to no one in particular.
A) unpretentious
B) archaic
C) primitive
D) democratic
E) egalitarian
F) changeable
XGSC0222
The scholars’ hypothesis challenges the scope of human psychological and behavioral universals, but does
not dispense with them entirely: the team remains confident that displays of pride, for instance, are
________.
A) inherited
B) pernicious
C) ubiquitous
D) symptomatic
E) detrimental
F) omnipresent
XGSC0223
In literature, thrillers thrive on heroes and villains, and usually the characterization is not very ________;
writers don’t want to confuse or slow the plot.
A) nuanced
B) trite
C) realistic
D) monotonous
E) banal
F) subtle
XGSC0224
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Too much focus on what might have been can cause in us feelings of powerlessness and regret, but some
scientists are beginning to think that imagining an alternative reality might have ________ effects as well.
A) subtle
B) adverse
C) restorative
D) pleasurable
E) unfavorable
F) tonic
XGSC0225
According to Panamanian composer Danilo Perez, the gravity of jazz pianist Randy Weston’s performances
is ________: you can copy one of his chords, but it doesn’t sound the same.
A) elusive
B) indelible
C) unattainable
D) estranging
E) purposeful
F) alienating
XGSC0226
Although, in spirit at least, solar panels ________ nature and the way our biosphere harnesses the energy
of our sun, the actual photosynthetic process by which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy is far
more complex than solar power generation is.
A) streamline
B) enhance
C) imitate
D) exploit
E) simplify
F) mimic
XGSC0227
Because the influence of French women writers in seventeenth-century England has been ________ by
scholars, England’s early women writers, such as Aphra Behn and Delarivier Manley, may appear to have
sprung from a vacuum.
A) documented
B) discredited
C) slighted
D) misinterpreted
E) discounted
96
F) corroborated
XGSC0228
While the rate at which absolute global sea level is rising may seem ________, it has been far from an
incidental factor in human history.
A) disconcerting
B) intractable
C) improbable
D) imperceptible
E) unnerving
F) trivial
XGSC0229
Faced with so much conflicting information on the internet, many people come to believe that all sources are
so ________ that efforts to discriminate between the true and the false are inevitably futile.
A) slanted
B) imprecise
C) splenetic
D) tendentious
E) surreptitious
F) acrimonious
XGSC0230
A single, cheap tablet combining a range of drugs that protect against heart disease was ________ years
ago, but pharmaceutical companies were reluctant to undertake the project because it failed to provide
sufficient financial incentive.
A) banned
B) broached
C) proscribed
D) proposed
E) authorized
F) developed
SECTION 7
XGSC0231
The auditors are relying on the failing bank to make changes that it has steadfastly resisted for years and
even now does not seem ________ to carry out.
A) able
B) impatient
97
C) destined
D) disinclined
E) loath
F) keen
XGSC0232
The vast majority of universities in the United States promote themselves as institutions of free speech and
thought, construing censorship as ________ their search for knowledge.
A) subordinate to
B) obviated by
C) secondary to
D) antipathetic to
E) conducive to
F) inconsistent with
XGSC0233
We might be much closer to building the next generation of observatories if competing groups of
astronomers had not ________ repeated chances to collaborate; instead, three separate projects with
common goals are fighting one another for funding.
A) spurned
B) avoided
C) sabotaged
D) rebuffed
E) initiated
F) commenced
XGSC0234
While the environmental detection of nuclear explosions has become ________, the ability to detect nuclear
weapons programs well before they result in a nuclear device would better serve security objectives.
A) immediate
B) unnecessary
C) redundant
D) straightforward
E) surreptitious
F) unproblematic
XGSC0235
Most farmers alternate corn and soybean crops in their fields rather than periodically leaving field unplanted,
as was once customary, but such ________ cropping can deplete the organic content of the soil.
A) strenuous
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B) consistent
C) continuous
D) unremitting
E) haphazard
F) slipshod
XGSC0236
The ear is much more ________ than the eye: only the ear can tell a source that oscillates 30 times a
second from one that oscillates 60 times a second.
A) stable
B) efficient
C) durable
D) discerning
E) accurate
F) tenacious
XGSC0237
Neurologists are scanning the activity that music triggers in our neurons, but far from generating ________
the neurophysiological function of music, these data are inspiring a pitched debate among researchers.
A) disagreement about
B) clarity regarding
C) discussion regarding
D) optimism about
E) consensus about
F) accord regarding
XGSC0238
Perhaps the scariest thing about weather extremes is their inherent ________: just because we are almost
certain they will become more frequent does not mean we can pinpoint exactly when and where they will
occur.
A) complexity
B) anger
C) unpredictable
D) ubiquity
E) fickleness
F) pervasiveness
XGSC0239
Family lore has it that jazz saxophonist James Carter’s perfect imitation of birdsong amazed his elementary-
school classmates, marking him as ________ conjurer of sound.
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A) an unruly
B) an unlikely
C) an early
D) an astonishing
E) a precocious
F) a preposterous
XGSC0240
Accounts of early opera performances—both of the performances themselves and of their social milieu—
indicate that the origins of the genre were anything but ________; it began at the peak.
A) lavish
B) disreputable
C) sumptuous
D) decadent
E) plebeian
F) humble
SECTION 8
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Although individual dust devils (small whirlwinds) on Mars are ________, collectively they can be counted on
to maintain the atmospheric dust at a certain level.
A) dangerous
B) minuscule
C) unpredictable
D) impenetrable
E) treacherous
F) erratic
XGSC0242
Artists such as Jimi Jones reveal how ________ art categories really are: Jones successfully uses materials
relatively foreign to the hegemonic concept of fine art while working in a style commonly associated with
high culture.
A) fragmented
B) contrived
C) pervious
D) prescriptive
E) conventional
F) artificial
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XGSC0243
While the politician promised that her speech would be full of fresh ideas, all she really offered was
________.
A) elucidations
B) bromides
C) recriminations
D) platitudes
E) affectations
F) hyperboles
XGSC0244
Conditions at the training camp for runners were ________; few of the runners had proper shoes or a
training kit.
A) unpleasant
B) tedious
C) spartan
D) austere
E) rigorous
F) monotonous
XGSC0245
Despite growing evidence of a positive association between consumption of whole grains and long-term
health, a research gap exists between observational studies and the elucidation of the mechanisms
involved, mechanisms that in some cases are still quite ________
A) ineffective
B) speculative
C) unproductive
D) obscure
E) unsubstantiated
F) controversial
XGSC0246
This novel is not great literature: there are too many characters, too many subplots, and no clearly defined
protagonist, making for ________ story.
A) a banal
B) a diffuse
C) a mawkish
D) an innocuous
E) an amorphous
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F) a hackneyed
XGSC0247
Although streams of solar particles cause beautiful auroras—the northern and southern lights—sometimes
their consequences are less ________: their electromagnetic effects, for instance, can overload power grids
and damage orbiting satellites.
A) spectacular
B) significant
C) benign
D) consequential
E) innocuous
F) palpable
XGSC0248
Certainly, the drive to make safety a corporate priority is ________, but whether it will be enough to create
the necessary change in corporate culture is another matter; organizational inertia can be a powerful force.
A) revolutionary
B) sound
C) critical
D) prudent
E) irresistible
F) inexorable
XGSC0249
In a time when so much new concert music failed to speak to listeners, the composer’s symphonies
expressed with ________ wit and scorching emotional power the tragic history he lived through.
A) torpid
B) insouciant
C) patronizing
D) caustic
E) phlegmatic
F) stinging
XGSC0250
Interest in the recovery of lost works by Brazilian women writers is growing as scholars increasingly
recognize writing by Brazilian women as inherently worth study, not as ________ writing by Brazilian men.
A) divergent from
B) ancillary to
C) interchangeable with
D) antithetical to
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E) subsidiary to
F) complimentary to
SECTION 9
XGSC0251
Recent research has shown that memories are not unchanging physical traces in the brain; instead, they are
constructs that are ________, rebuilt every time they are recalled.
A) complex
B) intricate
C) fragile
D) malleable
E) ephemeral
F) pliable
XGSC0252
Technology does not have an inherently ________ effect on society; in fact, some technological advances
have counteracted social changes that were reducing economic inequality.
A) leveling
B) pernicious
C) corrupting
D) beneficial
E) unsound
F) equalizing
XGSC0253
Tycho Brahe had assigned Kepler the task of deriving parameters for the model of Mars, a particularly
________ problem, which had stymied others because the large eccentricity of Mars exposed the
inadequacies of the model itself.
A) novel
B) recalcitrant
C) intractable
D) crucial
E) profound
F) treacherous
XGSC0254
The geometry student struggled with the request to demonstrate the ________ proposition, feeling that,
since opposite angles were self-evidently equal, there was no need for a proof.
A) patent
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B) nebulous
C) arcane
D) manifest
E) illogical
F) plausible
XGSC0255
Because it has usually been impossible to eradicate exotic species once they have become established, it is
________ to minimize introductions of species that have substantial probabilities of unwanted impacts.
A) prudent
B) customary
C) provident
D) superfluous
E) essential
F) pointless
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A number of researchers have questioned the long-held assumption that decision making is ________,
arguing instead that most behavior is relatively automatic.
A) calculable
B) deliberate
C) mechanical
D) predictable
E) contentious
F) calculated
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Eubank’s efforts to facilitate ________ between the two sides came to nothing but could be seen as an early
blueprint for the historic agreement between the sides over ten years later.
A) an alliance
B) a rapprochement
C) a conversation
D) a reconciliation
E) an altercation
F) a quarrel
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Many types of rocks contain small voids that ________ vibrations: the greater the proportion of a rock’s
volume that is void, the more gradually vibrations travel through it.
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A) amplify
B) dampen
C) generate
D) impede
E) produce
F) conceal
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The landmasses that form our continents are notably ________: they are plates of rock continuously shifting
around within the Earth’s crust, in movements that are not just horizontal but also vertical.
A) coordinated
B) dispersed
C) itinerant
D) ancient
E) peripatetic
F) scattered
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Deeply self-righteous, the artists defended their new aesthetic principles against a hidebound critical
establishment whose mockery only reinforced the artists’ belief in the ________ of traditional aesthetics.
A) shortsightedness
B) fickleness
C) exhaustion
D) destructiveness
E) changeability
F) bankruptcy
SECTION 10
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The biographer laments the ________ that abound in texts from antiquity they are so prevalent, she says
that they nearly amount to a "conspiracy of silence.”
A) fallacies
B) myths
C) misrepresentations
D) elisions
E) lacunae
F) distortions
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The playwright's political activity on behalf of imprisoned artists finds its artistic analogue in her ________
toward her competitors in the theater, many of them in another kind of exile.
A) affability
B) indifference
C) generosity
D) optimism
E) magnanimity
F) apathy
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Personal computers have become so ________ that the use of digital evidence collected from them is now a
common part of many criminal and civil investigations.
A) ubiquitous
B) sophisticated
C) affordable
D) convenient
E) elaborate
F) omnipresent
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Recent advances in the study of desert varnish have been a boon to geologists, allowing them to date
surface features and establish regional climate histories in ________ detail.
A) novel
B) realistic
C) unprecedented
D) superfluous
E) extraneous
F) surprising
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At every turn in her novels, Patricia Highsmith eschews simple distinctions between good and evil, right and
wrong choosing instead to examine how ________ such distinctions can be.
A) plastic
B) palpable
C) parochial
D) arbitrary
E) concrete
F) malleable
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The proliferation of the zombie in contemporary popular culture is ________: from novels and comic books
to video games and performance art, in smartphone applications and in homemade films zombies are
ubiquitous.
A) mesmerizing
B) unprecedented
C) lamentable
D) disputable
E) deplorable
F) obvious
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Smil’s analysis of climate change is even more ________ than that supplied by most well-informed writers,
and thus deserves serious consideration.
A) nuanced
B) unoriginal
C) complex
D) derivative
E) partisan
F) compelling
XGSC0268
Many readers are bemused to discover that Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s book Poems of Passion was thought to
be ________ when it was published in 1883, as the book seems fairly innocuous.
A) scandalous
B) radical
C) unseemly
D) uninteresting
E) pedestrian
F) eccentric
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When Gustave Flaubert wrote a rabidly depressed letter to his friend George Sand, she responded with a
maternal nudge, typical of their correspondence, she liked to pretend that his ________ was an affectation.
A) bravado
B) smugness
C) abjection
D) swagger
E) wretchedness
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F) irascibility
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Although Wanda Coleman’s sonnets sometimes employ ________ word choices, they aptly bring to the fore
a distinctly modern anxiety.
A) ambiguous
B) archaic
C) puzzling
D) surprising
E) fusty
F) disturbing
SECTION 11
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Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, was celebrated for his moderation and temperate living, qualities that
would distinguish him from so many of his ________ successors.
A) radical
B) sybaritic
C) tyrannical
D) hedonistic
E) despotic
F) dogmatic
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Scientists reported last month on a sign of relative solar ________: the solar wind, a rush of charged
particles continually spewed from the Sun at a million miles an hour, had diminished to its lowest level in 50
years.
A) quiescence
B) turbulence
C) isolation
D) calm
E) remoteness
F) instability
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The bird-watchers’ ________ distinguishing personal interpretations from factual observations was a liability
in their stated goal of obtaining objective information about the everyday behavior of ravens.
A) zeal for
B) exactness in
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C) ineptitude at
D) maladroitness in
E) indifference toward
F) fervor for
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Although political debates supposedly exist to inform viewers about the candidates’ policy positions, these
debates are often ________ by critics who see them as occasions for evasion and posturing.
A) ignored
B) evaluated
C) decried
D) maintained
E) disparaged
F) sustained
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Leaders within the Native American culture known as Fort Ancient differed from those of the neighboring
Mississippian groups, whose authority was often ________: indeed, one expert has described the Fort
Ancient society as intensely egalitarian.
A) quixotic
B) dubious
C) uncertain
D) coercive
E) efficacious
F) imperious
XGSC0276
Scientists generally agree that causal inferences in well-designed experiments are more reliable than such
inferences in purely observational contexts because most uncontrolled variables are ______ in the
laboratory environment.
A) excluded
B) pronounced
C) exaggerated
D) overlooked
E) distorted
F) obviated
XGSC0277
To say that John Adams was forthright was to be ________; friends as well as enemies were more likely to
characterize his stark honesty and direct manner as blunt and awkward.
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A) fickle
B) charitable
C) facetious
D) unreasonable
E) forbearing
F) capricious
XGSC0278
The Chancellor castigated one regime for its mistreatment of political opponents, whereas he inexplicably
________ another that had committed similar acts.
A) adjured
B) exculpated
C) impugned
D) neglected
E) cosseted
F) absolved
XGSC0279
In order to justify a life spent wandering across some of the world’s farthest corners, travel writer Bruce
Chatwin noted that humans are ________ by nature: there seems to be a roaming instinct embedded in our
genes.
A) inquisitive
B) itinerant
C) peripatetic
D) gregarious
E) sociable
F) curious
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While Takaezu’s ceramic pieces are highly distinctive, her body of work as a whole can feel ________ to
critics who wish to track it since she has never dated or conscientiously documented her creations.
A) edifying
B) nebulous
C) austere
D) anachronistic
E) instructive
F) amorphous
SECTION 12
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XGSC0331
A danger of writing urban history is the temptation to fall into the __________ and then to learn that only a
rare few will be interested in reading your overly specialized account of lost times.
A) sensational
B) quixotic
C) provincial
D) impractical
E) subversive
F) parochial
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Over the past hundred years, numerous experiments on elementary particles have ___________ the
classical paradigm of a causal, deterministic universe by showing that some natural phenomena are truly
random.
A) augmented
B) supported
C) upended
D) investigated
E) undermined
F) probed
XGSC0333
In Roth's fiction, politics is an element that doesn't naturally occur in __________ form but is always getting
confused and mixed up with shame and anger, baseball and sex.
A) an unalloyed
B) an unbiased
C) an uncontroversial
D) an objective
E) a neat
F) a tendentious
XGSC0334
Concerned to upend the standard top-down approach to game design, Flanagan calls on game designers to
__________ the typical model with one that is less hierarchical.
A) augment
B) supplant
C) assail
D) amplify
E) modify
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F) replace
XGSC0335
Some species of the genus Daphnia (commonly known as water fleas) are phenotypically __________.
altering their diurnal migration behavior and developing exaggerated morphological defenses in response to
predators.
A) immutable
B) methodical
C) determinate
D) plastic
E) arbitrary
F) pliable
XGSC0336
Jimi Hendrix was a pivotal figure in the visionary aesthetic movement Known as Afrofuturism, which is
steeped in African American musical tradition yet __________ technological innovation, from synthesizers to
spaceships.
A) circumspect about
B) indebted to
C) enthralled by
D) wary of
E) captivated by
F) heedful of
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While lunar geology may appear to be a relatively __________ area of planetary science, it is important to
realize that the Moon's surface and interior retain records that shed light on the histories of all terrestrial
planets.
A) parochial
B) insignificant
C) narrow
D) new
E) straightforward
F) novel
XGSC0338
Frequently blamed for making ___________ coverage decisions, insurance companies are eager to avoid
additional bad press.
A) heartless
B) unfair
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C) parsimonious
D) callous
E) definitive
F) conclusive
XGSC0339
Beauford Delaney's dynamic depictions of Harlem and Greenwich Village, dating from 1929 to 1953,
___________ the energy of the city, while the equally captivating abstract compositions from his Paris years
of 1953 to 1979 demonstrate his sustained exploration of color.
A) authenticate
B) convey
C) elicit
D) impart
E) stifle
F) suppress
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While spectroscopy may be an obscure tool, there is nothing correspondingly __________ about claims
concerning its importance: it proved that the rest of the universe is built from the same kinds of atoms as we
are.
A) banal
B) arcane
C) esoteric
D) prosaic
E) equivocal
F) self-evident
SECTION 13
XGSC0341
Most children overgeneralize the rule that to form a plural you add "s"-saying "foots," for example, instead of
"feet" -but they become grammatically more __________ as they get older.
A) exacting
B) succinct
C) adroit
D) playful
E) skillful
F) creative
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Despite their current reputation, the original Luddites were neither opposed to innovative technology nor
__________ using it: many were highly skilled machine operators in the textile industry.
A) inept at
B) enamored of
C) resistant to
D) unequal to
E) enthralled by
F) unfazed by
XGSC0343
The author's comparisons of Sontag 's work to that of Walter Benjamin are ___________: while the former is
admittedly an influential figure, the latter is undoubtedly one of the most important critics of his era.
A. overblown
B. inflated
C. enticing
D. engaging
E. misleading
F. revealing
XGSC0344
The author's description of the ___________ contamination of ocean water with plastic materials-and
resulting threat to marine life--constitutes a valuable lesson in the urgency of managing trash more
responsibly than we currently do.
A. inadvertent
B. ubiquitous
C. perilous
D. pervasive
E. abating
F. diminishing
XGSC0345
What Dr. Walther has shown is that many of the standard statistical techniques that are supposed to insure
against ________ correlations are inadequate in this case.
A) numerical
B) specious
C) elementary
D) paltry
E) quantifiable
F) spurious
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XGSC0346
The team of physicists regarded the data as too ________ not to study with fresh eyes and first questions.
A) anomalous
B) singular
C) implausible
D) incidental
E) confounding
F) ancillary
XGSC0347
Taxonomy has gained a reputation as ________ science, a reputation that is not mitigated by the incessant
changing of the names of organisms and the seemingly haphazard approach taken to the definition of taxa.
A) an arcane
B) an arbitrary
C) an exacting
D) a rigorous
E) an obstinate
F) a capricious
XGSC0348
As the global climate warms, some deserts, expanding to higher latitudes, are beginning to ________ fertile
regions.
A) augment
B) endanger
C) destroy
D) displace
E) supplant
F) enrich
XGSC0349
The plays of Alice Childress (1916-1994) often present Black women in confrontations that rearrange what
qualifies as _______ behavior: Childress’s heroines, for example, often question the social protocols limiting
the content of public conversations.
A) conventional
B) normative
C) surreptitious
D) exemplary
E) altruistic
F) magnanimous
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XGSC0350
A glance at the night sky may suggest that the universe is _______:the tableau of stars seen last night
appears virtually identical to the one that fascinated our ancestors thousands of years ago.
A) desolate
B) quiescent
C) boundless
D) infinite
E) invariant
F) animate
SECTION 14
XGSC0361
Because organisms can't ________ sodium, as they can do with nitrogen, carbon, and phospborus, they
need external sources to replenish this vital element constantly.
A) incorporate
B) metamorphose
C) sequester
D) discharge
E) transform
F) warehouse
XGSC0362
The appropriateness of ________ with those to whom one owes loyalty is evident in the Confucian view that
rulers who are not living up to their roles should be urged to rectify their behavior.
A) commiserating
B) collaborating
C) negotiating
D) expostulating
E) sympathizing
F) remonstrating
XGSC0363
The dating of the prehistoric monument Stonehenge necessarily entails a great deal of speculation, with the
result that several rather ________ chronologies have been proposed.
A) impenetrable
B) meticulous
C) disparate
D) inconsonant
116
E) confounding
F) apposite
XGSC0364
Williams argues that philosophy has become ________ occupation these days, and that it should rather be
“part of a more general attempt to make the best sense of our life.”
A) a recondite
B) a challenging
C) an esoteric
D) an exacting
E) a salacious
F) an altruistic
XGSC0365
The writer's expression of ________ sentiments in fluid, vigorous prose is a strange blending of the high and
the low—like an opera performed by soppily dressed, unkempt musicians.
A) patriotic
B) vile
C) noble
D) base
E) tender
F) lofty
XGSC0366
Researchers studying India's monsoon weather have evaluated more than 100 years of rain gauge data;
________ such information, South American scientists are forced to reconstruct centuries of monsoon
history by analyzing lake-bottom sediment cores.
A) verifying
B) lacking
C) utilizing
D) employing
E) wanting
F) confirming
XGSC0367
The author's point is not that people should be ________ science; he is careful to point out that what
science is discovering about humans, for example, is certainly important and worthy of careful consideration.
A) skeptical toward
B) dismissive of
C) ignorant of
117
D) zealous regarding
E) scornful of
F) passionate about
XGSC0368
Land near Bangladesh's coastal rivers is ________: temporary island, or chars, form in the main river as
sediments are deposited and then disappear during floods.
A) fecund
B) scant
C) ephemeral
D) exiguous
E) transitory
F) treacherous
XGSC0369
Some critics, noting the power of photographs to manipulate perceptions, ________ the photographer’s
work for intentionally misrepresenting its subjects.
A) lambasted
B) exculpated
C) lauded
D) scrutinized
E) censured
F) shunned
XGSC0370
Reading proved liberating for the young Frederick Douglass, since it _______ concepts and narratives that
confirmed and illuminated his experiences.
A) provided
B) clarified
C) challenged
D) anticipated
E) furnished
F) summarized
SECTION 15
XGSC0401
Technological developments in the nineteenth century took longer to _______ than they do today: many of
that century’s advances were known to scientists but not to average people.
A. occur
118
B. propagate
C. accelerate
D. multiply
E. spread
F. increase
XGSC0402
The scientific study of laughter faces a frustrating paradox: ideal experiments take place in rigidly controlled
environments with all but the most salient variables eliminated, but such sterile settings are often _______
laughter.
A. inimical to
B. devoid of
C. subverted by
D. adverse to
E. replete with
F. rife with
XGSC0403
One of the incongruities of modern industry, according to Reck and Graedel, is that we manufacture modern
products with the most sophisticated technologies available yet generally adopt relatively _______
approaches to recycling them.
A. economical
B. basic
C. crude
D. conventional
E. inefficient
F. inexpensive
XGSC0404
The online discussion became so ferocious that some participants were reluctant to continue logging in for
fear of being confronted with yet another _______.
A. platitude
B. harangue
C. rant
D. panegyric
E. eulogy
F. disquisition
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119
Because the country’s media are now operating freely and the electoral authorities have been changed,
there should be no repeat of the _______of last year’s election, when media coverage and vote counts were
manipulated by the intelligence agency.
A. chicanery
B. blundering
C. ingenuousness
D. naïveté
E. vindictiveness
F. subterfuge
XGSC0406
The number of recent interviews and television appearances suggests that the formerly _______ politician
has done an about-face.
A. obdurate
B. taciturn
C. acerbic
D. reticent
E. loquacious
F. mordant
XGSC0407
A strong basic science program can be _______: the rate of return on capital invested in basic science is
about three times that of capital invested in applied research and development.
A. idealistic
B. remunerative
C. lucrative
D. transcendent
E. feasible
F. radical
XGSC0408
Though initially presented in a blaze of hyperbole, the thesis is stated more _______ in the ensuing
paragraphs.
A. humbly
B. levelheadedly
C. pretentiously
D. convincingly
E. showily
F. soberly
120
XGSC0409
According to Peter Kwapong, rural Ghanaian farmers, despite regarding stingless bees as useful animals,
by and large have not _______ the bees as economic resources.
A. recognized
B. discounted
C. exploited
D. utilized
E. monopolized
F. downplayed
XGSC0410
Mary lsin’s book on Turkish sweets is written in the celebratory mode, yet many of the chapters also have
_______ quality since quite a few of the desserts she writes about have largely disappeared.
A. a mournful
B. an embittered
C. an elegiac
D. a pensive
E. a lackadaisical
F. a nonchalant
SECTION 16
XGSC0411
While the _______ of reliable sources in later narratives make many details of the early history of China’s
Zhou dynasty unverifiable, the Zhou rulers’ successful rise to power is certain.
A. dearth
B. ambiguity
C. paucity
D. opacity
E. authenticity
F. credibility
XGSC0412
In modern agriculture, crop growth and crop protection can be viewed as _______ processes: by
encouraging rapid growth with generous fertilizer treatments we may in some cases unintentionally reduce
the ability of plants to defend themselves.
A. reciprocal
B. autonomous
C. competing
121
D. harmful
E. antagonistic
F. independent
XGSC0413
Although collisions between the largest planetesimals in a planetesimal belt are _______, they can release
large amounts of debris when they occur.
A. risky
B. exceptional
C. irregular
D. violent
E. rare
F. powerful
XGSC0414
The _______ markings on some prehistoric bone and antler fragments could be accidents or the result of
doodling, but may also represent a form of communication such as tally marks or even early calendars.
A. purposeful
B. enigmatic
C. random
D. inscrutable
E. conspicuous
F. deliberate
XGSC0415
A recent discussion on biological development promotes “organicism” as a scientifically _______ view, one
which the authors quickly distinguish from the dubious and metaphysically laden “vitalism.”
A. productive
B. unambiguous
C. tenable
D. suspect
E. feasible
F. questionable
XGSC0416
In her study of the composer, Fiona Richards fearlessly digs into biographical details, avoiding the _______
found in the work of other, more circumspect biographers.
A. hagiography
B. vacillation
122
C. muckraking
D. scandalmongering
E. forbearance
F. equivocation
XGSC0417
Since becoming commissioner, Mr. Vincente has snapped at the heels of the dominant firms in European
industry more _______ than his more zealous predecessors and has consequently acquired fewer enemies.
A. reluctantly
B. irascibly
C. persistently
D. pugnaciously
E. unwillingly
F. judiciously
XGSC0418
Automated text-matching and plagiarism-detection services must be _______ human expertise: machines
alone cannot detect plagiarism of ideas, that is, expressing someone else’s idea in one’s own words.
A. developed by
B. supplemented with
C. resistant to
D. augmented by
E. impenetrable to
F. compatible with
XGSC0419
The 1966 Mexican art exhibition “Confrontation 66” seemed to define the Mexican art world as one in which
political alignment was _______, yet painter Joy Laville rose to prominence with paintings devoid of
contentiousness.
A. inconsequential
B. ineluctable
C. requisite
D. perilous
E. pointless
F. obsolete
XGSC0420
Just as the short strings of a violin cannot produce the deep, long-wavelength notes of a double bass, so
photons-which are vibrations not of strings but of electromagnetic fields—are _______ by the physical
characteristics of objects that conduct electricity.
123
A. conveyed
B. bound
C. amplified
D. thwarted
E. transmitted
F. circumscribed

XGSC0471
In medieval China, the Confucian emphasis on rites as an outward manifestation of virtue explains Chinese
bureaucrats’ _______ the accurate performance of tributary rituals by foreigners at the imperial court.
A. ambivalence toward
B. preoccupation with
C. proficiency with
D. obsession with
E. regard for
F. anticipation of
XGSC0472
The breathless pace of the Broadway adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple was _______, given the
adaptation’s determination to cram in so many of the incidents that appear in the original source.
A. unremarkable
B. inevitable
C. surprising
D. excessive
E. unavoidable
F. unexpected
XGSC0473
The big bang is actually a relatively _______ idea, scientifically speaking; just a few decades ago, the big
bang would have been hotly contested, and a few decades before that, it hadn’t even been considered.
A. novel
B. straightforward
C. controversial
D. recent
E. contentious
F. uncomplicated
124
XGSC0474
The author illustrates her book about mid-nineteenth-century Paris with photographs revealing the _______
conditions that prevailed in the city: sewage can be seen draining onto streets lined with crumbling buildings.
A. dreary
B. ambiguous
C. obscure
D. noxious
E. ramshackle
F. insalubrious
XGSC0475
“Revolutionary” and “unique” are words that have become _______: every century in human history is
described as unique, and every year, somewhere in the world, some event is characterized as revolutionary.
A. overused
B. interchangeable
C. confused
D. distorted
E. trite
F. contentious
XGSC0476
So great is the reputation of the artist Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) for _______ that some modern specialists
routinely discount assertions that he made in correspondence with owners of his paintings.
A. self-aggrandizement
B. parsimony
C. opportunism
D. dissembling
E. mendacity
F. miserliness
XGSC0477
Established scientists recognize that peer review of manuscripts submitted to scientific journals is critical to
science, but this recognition _______ a certain ambivalence in them, since reviewing takes time away from
their research.
A. obviates
B. mitigates
C. engenders
D. tempers
E. induces
125
F. exacerbates
XGSC0478
In the 1990s, the limited color palette of display screens was _______: the electronics industry, working
through a United Nations agency, adopted a worldwide standard color gamut that all televisions should be
able to display.
A. codified
B. encrypted
C. enforced
D. expanded
E. formalized
F. denounced
XGSC0479
Researchers who study pollinator behavior are increasingly interested in multicomponent floral signals, but
they often focus on how individual components are learned by pollinators rather than on the benefit of signal
_______ per se.
A. complexity
B. stability
C. magnitude
D. intensity
E. variation
F. intricacy
XGSC0480
Herodotus is not _______ concerning some of the more fantastic stories related in his History: as he
repeatedly observes, “I must tell what is said, but I am not at all bound to believe it.”
A. credulous
B. loquacious
C. gullible
D. arrogant
E. ignoble
F. voluble

XGSC0481
Aboriginal people of Victoria, Australia, neither rejected Western material culture nor demonstrated an
obsession with it; in fact, Western artifacts such as pipes and handkerchiefs were appreciated for their
symbolic rather than their _______ value.
A. utilitarian
126
B. intrinsic
C. communicative
D. aesthetic
E. pragmatic
F. theoretical
XGSC0482
That the announcement of the new treatment was greeted with _______ is hardly surprising given the claims
made for it, but attitudes were markedly tempered once the paucity of supporting data became apparent.
A. skepticism
B. disbelief
C. euphoria
D. optimism
E. impatience
F. jubilation
XGSC0483
The adipose tissue in which our bodies store fat from the food we eat has traditionally been thought of as
________, but in reality this tissue constitutes a dynamic organ, not a mere repository.
A. capacious
B. deleterious
C. inert
D. detrimental
E. passive
F. inessential
XGSC0484
Campbell argues that because life takes eons to get started, habitability of extrasolar planets isn’t solely
determined by the balance of temperature and chemicals; it also depends on the _______ of these factors.
A. intensity
B. stability
C. makeup
D. volatility
E. harmony
F. persistence
XGSC0485
Even though it is generally accepted that some features of water clocks came to be incorporated in
mechanical clocks, insufficient attention has been paid to precisely how mechanical clocks _______ water
clocks.
127
A. existed with
B. occurred with
C. derived from
D. superseded
E. influenced
F. stemmed from
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The author argues that by setting the agenda, constraining the issues discussed, and crafting “talking
points,” political elites are ultimately able to ________ the choices available to voters.
A. explicate
B. obfuscate
C. demarcate
D. multiply
E. widen
F. circumscribe
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Unlike many artists, who made multiple impressions of the same image to sell and make more money, Mary
Cassatt often reworked an image on different plates, as if most fascinated by the process of _______.
A. repetition
B. revision
C. comparison
D. reversal
E. reproduction
F. modification
XGSC0488
Because there has been such a ________ of information about Jorge Luis Borges’ personal life, it is easy to
understand the eager excitement generated by Borges, a selection from the diaries of his closest friend.
A) stream
B) glut
C) paucity
D) dearth
E) surfeit
F) tangle
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128
At public appearances the leader was remarkably taciturn, typically making _______ observations before
turning the floor over to a colleague.
A. trite
B. insightful
C. inflammatory
D. shrewd
E. perfunctory
F. brief
XGSC0490
Since beavers rely on auditory signals such as the tail slap and whining and hissing, we can infer that their
hearing is _______, although we don’t know the exact sensitivity and performance of their acoustical sense.
A. functional
B. keen
C. serviceable
D. precise
E. adaptable
F. malleable

XGSC491
Charles Dickens is a notoriously _______ figure for biographers: as Claire Tomalin writes in her book on
him, “Everyone finds their own version of Charles Dickens.”
A. attractive
B. slippery
C. sacrosanct
D. distasteful
E. unpalatable
F. elusive
XGSC492
Examination of eighteenth-century correspondence from colonial Pennsylvania reveals that men generally
sent love letters to the friends and family of the women they _______ rather than to the women themselves.
A. coveted
B. courted
C. married
D. cast off
E. flirted with
129
F. wooed
XGSC493 AE
Sheila refused to patronize all-you-can-eat restaurants, for she felt that enjoying them required a certain
_______ of which she disapproved.
A. voraciousness
B. frugality
C. parsimony
D. disingenuousness
E. insatiability
F. abstinence
XGSC494
Veins of copper ore can be quarried from Earth’s surface, but deeper extraction requires ever more bedrock
to be excavated in proportion to ore, so that such a procedure becomes increasingly ________ for mining
companies.
A. pointless
B. protracted
C. lucrative
D. complicated
E. rewarding
F. impracticable
XGSC495
Given that Mr. Harris was obviously sophisticated and worldly, his failure to do well in the position can hardly
be ascribed to _______.
A. sloth
B. callowness
C. indifference
D. naïveté
E. indolence
F. incompetence
XGSC496
The reliable production of usable energy through the controlled fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium
remains an elusive dream: even the most ardent efforts to achieve it have thus far been ________.
A) concealed
B) debated
C) thwarted
D) maligned
130
E) veiled
F) frustrated
XGSC497
To describe as unrewarding a book so diligently researched and painstakingly thorough would, at first
glance, seem ________.
A) churlish
B) silly
C) banal
D) ungracious
E) coldhearted
F) cliched
XGSC498
Individuals interested in longevity have sought to fine-tune their bodies with all kinds of _______ diets: only
raw foods; only plants; only the flesh, fruit, and nuts that prehistoric humans would have hunted and foraged.
A. eccentric
B. meager
C. salutary
D. proscriptive
E. trendy
F. exacting
XGSC499
Egler’s prediction in 1947 that the introduction of mangrove trees to the Hawaiian Islands would cause
sweeping ecological change was ________: extensive mangrove forests have come to displace many
preexisting plant communities.
A) accurate
B) premature
C) prescient
D) foresighted
E) optimistic
F) precipitate
XGSC500
Some zoo animals—cheetahs, pandas, and black rhinos, for instance-are reluctant to breed in captivity,
while others are too _______, creating a problem for zoos when there is no more room in the cage.
A. fertile
B. wild
C. fecund
131
D. untamed
E. docile
F. precocious

XGSC501
Building the first United States transcontinental phone line required fundamental innovations: for example,
engineers created an amplifier for the electric signals to prevent them from _______ after a few miles.
A. propagating
B. attenuating
C. dissipating
D. iterating
E. deviating
F. proliferating
XGSC502
Early natural history collections in eighteenth-century Europe were _______: a bear’s tooth might sit
incongruously alongside a piece of silverwork or, in the menagerie, a South American capybara might be
housed next to an African baboon.
A. painstakingly arranged
B. impressively comprehensive
C. meticulously organized
D. highly exotic
E. fundamentally miscellaneous
F. thoroughly eclectic
XGSC503
Despite the long history of data collection on species diversity, there is a _______ of usable data.
A. surfeit
B. wealth
C. variety
D. diminution
E. dearth
F. paucity
XGSC504
Motorcycle riders in London have discovered an ingenious, albeit ________ way of parking illegally without
getting a ticket.
A) inventive
132
B) Unscrupulous
C) Astute
D) dishonest
E) Impractical
F) shrewd
XGSC505
Like his fellow ________ covering the campaign tour, who rarely had the luxury of spending more than one
night in one place, Tony had his bags packed well before the evening fund-raiser.
A. roisterers
B. itinerants
C. peripatetics
D. carousers
E. oracles
F. inquisitors
XGSC506
The painter Fu Baoshi lived and worked through a tumultuous period in Chinese history, ________ by
exceptional talent and a steely dedication to his art.
A. galvanized
B. buoyed
C. redeemed
D. marked
E. sustained
F. scarred
XGSC507
Vast, complex, and deeply entrenched, the administrative apparatus that answered to Egypt’s Queen
Cleopatra was ________ instrument with which to govern.
A. an antiquated
B. an efficient
C. a modest
D. a simple
E. an unwieldy
F. a cumbersome
XGSC508
Piersma and Gill suggest that bar-tailed godwits—long-billed shorebirds of the Eurasian and Alaskan
tundra—rank among the most ________ of the long-range fliers, traveling 11,000 kilometers nonstop across
the Pacific.
133
A. unpredictable
B. versatile
C. erratic
D. unflagging
E. renowned
F. indefatigable
XGSC509
Weak monsoon rainfall was responsible for the blackouts that cut power to half of the country because the
resulting ________ of water reduced the amount of electric power produced by the country’s hydroelectric
dams.
A. allocation
B. contamination
C. influx
D. dearth
E. surfeit
F. paucity
XGSC510
In hindsight, it is easy to say that the geological evidence for ice ages was ________ and to wonder why
such periods in the Earth’s past were not recognized earlier.
A. accessible
B. overwhelming
C. emerging
D. irresistible
E. intriguing
F. tenuous
134

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皇冠 GRE 新新高高频填 4.

SECTION 11（4.0 版更新）

SECTION 12（4.0 版更新）

A) reflexively challenged D) a nascent

B) unjustifiably disregarded E) a symbiotic

C) substantially supported F) an adversarial

A) consider the importance D) desolate before

B) question the adequacy E) secure against

C) dismiss the critiques F) conducive to

C) departure from F) invention

A) polemical view of D) descriptive

B) polite boredom with E) tendentious

C) vested interest in F) enthusiastic

A) based upon D) become otiose

B) inimical to E) generate controversy

C) saddled with F) remain seminal

A) intentionally downplayed D) revitalized

B) gradually expanded E) eliminated

C) strongly emphasized F) exploited

A) warnings D) minimize their effect

B) distractions E) highlight their ubiquity

C) advantages F) measure their duration

A) antecedent to D) necessarily reductive

B) compromised by E) wholly invented

C) autonomous from F) uniformly inferior

A) cavalier disregard for D) unimportant

B) skeptical appreciation of E) ironic

C) critical approach to F) appropriate

A) a pedant D) scatter his energies

B) a dilettante E) respond to such criticism

C) an incendiary F) have a purposeful agenda

A) may misrepresent D) require

B) need not hew to E) enrich

C) appreciate the cachet of F) preclude

A) originality D) regional differences in

B) homogeneity E) practical reasons for

C) longevity F) periodic revivals of

A) is in its infancy D) groundbreaking

B) is highly contentious E) provisional

C) reveals surprising patterns F) superfluous

A) consonant with D) codify

C) incommensurate with F) corroborate

A) coy self-deprecation D) polemical

B) colloquial informality E) ingratiating

C) aggressive frankness F) analytical

A) oversimplified D) less intensively studied

B) untestable E) virtually unknown

C) promising F) harder to predict

A) officially superiors to D) controversial

B) consistently accepted by E) symbolic

C) simply pawns for F) powerful

A) a brilliant D) puzzled reactions

B) a seamless E) outright criticism

C) an incompatible F) general popularity

A) paradox D) not mutually exclusive

B) tautology E) inextricably paired

C) misnomer F) impervious to interpretation

B) aligned with E) intransigent

C) distinct from F) conscientious

A) made completely transparent D) engaged

B) fully vested in them E) vitiated

C) left deficient F) mitigated

A) heralded its decline D) foundered