BIG BOOK SENTENCE COMPLETIONS PART-8

GRE TEST 22


1.Although the architect's concept at first sounded too ____ to be ____ , his
careful analysis of every aspect of the project convinced the panel that the
proposed building was indeed, structurally feasible.
(A) mundane.. attractive
(B) eclectic.. appealing
(C) grandiose.. affordable
(D) innovative.. ignored
(E) visionary.. practicable

2.If efficacious new medicines have side effects that are commonly observed
and ____, such medicines are too often considered ____, even when
laboratory tests suggest caution.
(A) unremarkable.. safe
(B) unpredictable.. reliable
(C) frequent.. outdated
(D) salutary.. experimental
(E) complicated.. useful

3. The idealized paintings of nature produced in the eighteenth century are
evidence that the medieval ____ natural settings had been ____ and that
the outdoors now could be enjoyed without trepidation.
(A) fear of.. exorcised
(B) concerns about.. regained
(C) affection for.. surmounted
(D) disinterest in.. alleviated
(E) enthusiasm for.. confronted

4. Some paleontologists debate whether the diversity of species has ____
since the Cambrian period, or whether imperfections in the fossil record
only suggest greater diversity today, while in actuality there has been
either ____ or decreased diversity.
(A) changed.. escalation
(B) increased.. stasis
(C) expanded.. discontinuity
(D) declined.. reduction
(E) improved.. deviation

5. Manipulating laboratory tissue cultures with hormones is one thing; using
hormones to treat human beings, however, is contingent on whether
hormones that ____ in the laboratory can affect ____ organisms, and in
predictable ways.
(A) develop.. similar
(B) succeed.. simple
(C) fail.. cellular
(D) work.. whole
(E) reproduce.. unknown

6. The astronomer and feminist Maria Mitchell's own prodigious activity and
the vigor of the Association for the Advancement of Women during the
1870's ____ any assertion that feminism was ____ in that period.
(A) exclude.. thriving
(B) contradict.. prospering
(C) pervade.. remote
(D) buttress.. dormant
(E) belie.. quiescent

7. Jones was unable to recognize, the contradictions in his attitudes that were
obvious to everyone else; even the hint of an untruth was ____ to him, but
he ____ serious trouble by always cheating on his taxes.
(A) acceptable.. risked
(B) exciting.. averted
(C) repugnant.. courted
(D) anathema.. evaded
(E) tempting.. hazarded

8. Though feminist in its implications, Yvonne Rainer's 1974 film ____ the
filmmaker's active involvement in feminist politics.
(A) preserved
(B) portrayed
(C) encouraged
(D) renewed
(E) antedated

9. The chances that a species will ____ are reduced if any vital function is
restricted to a single kind of organ;____ by itself possesses an enormous
survival advantage.
(A) degenerate.. complexity
(B) expire.. size
(C) disappear.. variety
(D) flourish.. symmetry
(E) persist.. redundancy

10. Despite many decades of research on the gasification of coal, the data
accumulated are not directly ____ to environmental questions; thus a new
program of research specifically addressing such questions is ____.
(A) analogous.. promising
(B) transferable.. contradictory
(C) antithetical.. unremarkable
(D) applicable.. warranted
(E) pertinent.. unnecessary

11. In response to the follies of today's commercial and political worlds, the
author does not ____ inflamed indignation, but rather ____ the
detachment and smooth aphoristic prose of an eighteenth-century wit.
(A) display.. rails at
(B) rely on.. avoids
(C) suppress.. clings to
(D) express.. affects
(E) resort to.. spurns

12. Vaillant, who has been particularly interested in the means by which people
attain mental health, seems to be looking for ____ answers: a way to
close the book on at least a few questions about human nature.
(A) definitive
(B) confused
(C) temporary
(D) personal
(E) derivative

13. Imposing steep fines on employers for on-the-job injuries to workers could
be an effective ____ to creating a safer workplace, especially in the case of
employers with poor safety records.
(A) antidote
(B) alternative
(C) addition
(D) deterrent
(E) incentive

14. In retrospect, Gordon's students appreciated her ____ assignments,
realizing that such assignments were specifically designed to ____ original
thought rather than to review the content of her course.
(A) didactic.. ingrain
(B) intimidating.. thwart
(C) difficult.. discourage
(D) conventional.. explicate
(E) enigmatic.. stimulate

15.The insecticide proved ____; by killing the weak adults of a species, it
assured that the strong ones would mate among themselves and produce
offspring still more ____ to its effects.
(A) ineffective.. hostile
(B) cruel.. vulnerable
(C) feasible.. susceptible
(D) necessary.. immune
(E) counterproductive.. resistant

16. She writes across generational lines, making the past so ____ that our
belief that the present is the true locus of experience is undermined.
(A) complex
(B) distant
(C) vivid
(D) mysterious
(E) mundane

17. The technical know-how, if not the political ____, appears already at hand
to feed the world's exploding population and so to ____ at last the ancient
scourges of malnutrition and famine.
(A) will.. weaken
(B) expertise.. articulate
(C) doubt.. banish
(D) power.. denounce
(E) commitment.. eradicate

18. In small farming communities, accident victims rarely sue or demand
compensation: transforming a personal injury into a ____ someone else is
viewed as an attempt to ____ responsibility for one's own actions.
(A) conspiracy against.. assume
(B) claim against.. elude
(C) boon for.. minimize
(D) distinction for.. shift
(E) trauma for.. proclaim

19. The pungent verbal give-and-take among the characters makes the novel
____ reading, and this very ____ suggests to me that some of the opinions
voiced may be the author's.
(A) disturbing.. flatness
(B) tedious. inventiveness
(C) lively.. spiritedness
(D) necessary.. steadiness
(E) rewarding.. frivolousness

20. The fortresslike facade of the Museum of Cartoon Art seems calculated to
remind visitors that the comic strip is an art form that has often been ____
by critics.
(A) charmed
(B) assailed
(C) unnoticed
(D) exhilarated
(E) overwhelmed

21. It is difficult to distinguish between the things that charismatic figures do
____ and those that are carefully contrived for effect.
(A) formally
(B) publicly
(C) prolifically
(D) spontaneously
(E) willfully

22. The development of containers, possibly made from bark or the skins of
animals, although this is a matter of ____, allowed the extensive sharing of
forage foods in prehistoric human societies.
(A) record
(B) fact
(C) degree
(D) importance
(E) conjecture

GRE TEST 22 ANSWER KEY EAABD ECEED DAEEE CEBCB DE



[b]GRE TEST 23 [/b]


1.The trick for Michael was to ____ his son an illusory orderliness; only alone at night, when the boy was asleep. Could Michael ____ the chaos he kept hidden from his son.
(A) explore with.. demonstrate
(B) conjure for.. acknowledge
(C) conceal from.. dispel
(D) demystify for.. escape
(E) endure with.. abandon

2.For more than a century, geologists have felt comfortable with the idea that geological processes, although very ____, are also ____ and so are capable of shaping the Earth, given enough time.
(A) minute.. sporadic
(B) slow.. steady
(C) complex.. discernible
(D) unpredictable.. constant
(E) ponderous.. intermittent

3.While not ____ with the colorfully obvious forms of life that are found in a tropical rain forest, the desert is ____ to a surprisingly large number of species.
(A) brimming.. foreign
(B) endowed.. detrimental
(C) imbued.. hostile
(D) teeming.. host
(E) confronted.. home

4. He felt it would be ____, in view of the intense ____ that would likely follow, to make the sacrifice required in order to gain such little advantage.
(A) charitable.. growth
(B) welcomed.. prejudice
(C) futile.. encouragement
(D) academic.. acclaim
(E) unrealistic.. turmoil

5. To understand fully the impact of global warming on the environment, one must recognize that the components of the problem are ____ and, therefore, a change in any one component will ____ the others.
(A) distinct.. influence
(B) unique.. clarify
(C) linked.. affect
(D) cyclical.. negate
(E) growing.. exacerbate

6. Increased governmental alarm about global warming ____the concern among scientists that such warming is occurring, though when to expect major effects is still ____.
(A) echoes.. agreed on
(B) precludes.. under consideration
(C) reflects.. in dispute
(D) obviates.. in doubt
(E) encourages.. confirmed

7. Many more eighteenth-century novels were written by women than by men, but this dominance has, until very recently, been regarded merely as ____ fact, a bit of arcane knowledge noted only by bibliographers.
(A) a controversial
(B) a statistical
(C) an analytical
(D) an explicit
(E) an unimpeachable

8. In scientific studies, supporting evidence is much more satisfying to report than are discredited hypotheses, but, in fact, the ____ of errors is more likely to be ____ than is the establishment of probable truth.
(A) formulation.. permitted
(B) correction.. ignored
(C) detection.. useful
(D) accumulation.. agreeable
(E) refinement.. conditional

9. Professional photographers generally regard inadvertent surrealism in a photograph as a curse rather than a blessing; magazine photographers, in particular, consider themselves ____ to the extent that they can ____ its presence in their photographs.
(A) skillful.. enhance
(B) inadequate.. eliminate
(C) original.. demonstrate
(D) fortunate.. minimize
(E) conventional.. highlight

10. Carruthers' latest literary criticism ____ her reputation for trenchant commentary; despite its intriguing title and the fulsome praise on its dust jacket, it is nothing more than a collection of ____.
(A) reinforces.. pronouncements
(B) belies.. platitudes
(C) prejudices.. insights
(D) advances. . aphorisms
(E) undermines.. judgments

11. Although strong legal remedies for nonpayment of child support are ____ the delay and expense associated with these remedies make it ____ to develop other options.
(A) unpopular.. useful
(B) required.. impossible
(C) available.. imperative
(D) unavailing.. impractical
(E) nonexistent.. ridiculous

12. Prior to the work of Heckel, illustrations of fish were often beautiful but rarely ____; this fact, combined with the ____ nature of most nineteenth-century taxonomic descriptions, often kept scientists from recognizing differences between species.
(A) impressive.. inaccurate
(B) realistic.. detailed
(C) traditional.. progressive
(D) precise.. inexact
(E) distinctive.. sophisticated

13. Marshall's confrontational style could alienate almost anyone; he even antagonized a board of directors that included a number of his supporters and that had a reputation for not being easily ____.
(A) intimidated
(B) mollified
(C) reconciled
(D) provoked
(E) motivated

14. As is often the case with collections of lectures by ____ authors, the book as a whole is ____, although the individual contributions are outstanding in themselves.
(A) different.. disconnected
(B) incompetent.. abysmal
(C) famous.. systematic
(D) mediocre.. unexciting
(E) various.. coherent

15. Though extremely ____ about his own plans, the man allowed his associates no such privacy and was constantly ____ information about what they intended to do next.
(A) idiosyncratic .. altering
(B) guarded.. eschewing
(C) candid.. uncovering
(D) reticent. . soliciting
(E) fastidious.. ruining

16. Copyright and patent laws attempt to encourage innovation by ensuring that inventors are paid for creative work, so it would be ____ if expanded protection under these laws discouraged entrepreneurial innovation by increasing fears of lawsuits.
(A) desirable
(B) coincidental
(C) ironic
(D) natural
(E) sensible

17. Unfortunately, since courses in nutrition are often ____ medical school curriculums, a family physician is ____ to be an enlightening source of general information about diet.
(A) questioned by.. encouraged
(B) encountered among.. unable
(C) unappreciated by.. expected
(D) neglected in.. unlikely
(E) squeezed into.. intended

18. However ____ they might be, Roman poets were bound to have some favorite earlier author whom they would ____.
(A) subservient.. imitate
(B) independent .. inspire
(C) original.. emulate
(D) creative.. admire
(E) talented.. neglect

19. Human nature and long distances have made exceeding the speed limit a ____ tradition in the state, so the legislators surprised no one when, acceding to public practice, they ____ increased penalties for speeding.
(A) disquieting.. endorsed
(B) long-standing.. considered
(C) controversial.. suggested
(D) cherished.. rejected
(E) hallowed.. investigated

20. To believe that a culture's achievement can be measured by the ____ of its written material requires one to accept that a page of junk mail is as ____ as a page of great literature.
(A) nature.. readable
(B) quality.. prevalent
(C) timelessness.. understandable
(D) applicability.. eloquent
(E) volume.. valuable

21. Roman historians who study the period 30 B.C. to A.D. 180 can ____ the "Augustan peace" only by failing to recognize that this peace in many respects resembled that of death.
(A) decry
(B) applaud
(C) ridicule
(D) demand
(E) disprove

22. Although Tom was aware that it would be ____ to display annoyance publicly at the sales conference, he could not ____ his irritation with the client's unreasonable demands.
(A) inadvisable.. evince
(B) efficacious.. suppress
(C) pragmatic.. counter
(D) captious.. express
(E) impolitic.. hide

23. It is no accident that most people find Davis' book disturbing, for it is ____ to undermine a number of beliefs they have long ____.
(A) calculated.. cherished
(B) annotated.. assimilated
(C) intended.. denied
(D) anxious.. misunderstood
(E) reputed.. anticipated

24. Doreen justifiably felt she deserved recognition for the fact that the research institute had been ____ a position of preeminence, since it was she who had ____ the transformation.
(A) reduced to.. controlled
(B) raised to.. observed
(C) mired in.. imagined
(D) maintained in.. created
(E) returned to.. directed

25. The sea was not an ____ the ____ of the windmill; on the contrary, while the concept of the new invention passed quickly from seaport to seaport, it made little headway inland.
(A) element in.. evolution
(B) issue in . . acceptance
(C) aid to.. designers
(D) obstacle to.. diffusion
(E) impediment to.. creation

GRE TEST 23 ANSWER KEY :BBDEC CBCDB CDDAD CDCDE BEAED



GRE TEST 24


1.Any population increase beyond a certain level
necessitates greater ------- vegetable foods; thus, the
ability of a society to choose meat over cereals
always arises, in part, from ------ the number of
people.
(A) reliance on.. replenishing
(B) production of.. estimating
(C) spending on.. concealing
(D) recourse to.. limiting
(E) attention to.. varying

2.Ethologists are convinced that many animals survive
through learning-but learning that is ----- their
genetic programming, learning as thoroughly -------
as the most instinctive of behavioral responses.
(A) superseded by.. primitive
(B) compatible with.. transient
(C) complementary to.. familiar
(D) derived from.. inventive
(E) dictated by.. stereotyped


3. The actual ------- of Wilson's position was always
------by his refusal to compromise after having
initially agreed to negotiate a settlement.
(A) outcome.. foreshadowed
(B) logic.. enhanced
(C) rigidity.. betrayed
(D) uncertainty.. alleviated
(E) cowardice.. .highlighted

4. Even after ------- against the ------- of popular sover-
eignty were included, major figures in the human-
istic disciplines remained skeptical about the
proposal to extend suffrage to the masses.
(A) recommendations.. continuation
(B) safeguards.. excesses
(C) arguments.. introduction
(D) provisions. advantages
(E) laws.. creation

5. Because of its lack of theaters, the city came, ironi-
cally, to be viewed as an ------- theater town, and
that reputation led entrepreneurs to believe that it
would be ------- to build new theaters there.
(A) unprofitable.. risky
(B) untapped.. pointless
(C) unappreciated. difficult
(D) unlikely.. appropriate
(E) unimpressed.. shrewd

6. Unenlightened authoritarian managers rarely recog-
nize a crucial reason for the low levels of serious
conflict among members of democratically run
work groups: a modicum of tolerance for dissent
often prevents ……
(A) demur
(B) schism
(C) cooperation
(D) compliance
(E) shortsightedness

7. The ----- of gamblers' unsuccessful decision
strategies is one ----- of the illusions built into
games of chance in order to misguide players and
take their money.
(A) distortion.. outcome
(B) restriction.. result
(C) maintenance.. function
(D) prediction.. accomplishment
(E) demonstration.. prerequisite


GRE TEST 24 ANSWER KEY :DECBA BC