Questions

 

The renaissance in farmers' markets began just ___________ 20 years ago in several places, ___________ them California and New York City.

 

A. more… with

B. over … among

C. more than… between

D. above… some of

E. up… some

 

The best answer is B. Just over is correct and idiomatic. Among them is the appropriate expression to single a few out of a group.

 

 

Net margins for grocery stores were sorely ___________, so a group of usually uncooperative supermarket executives joined ___________ with a few food manufacturers to come up with a system to automate checkout stands.

 

A. drooping… influences

B. lowered… cogency

C. falling… teams

D. lagging… harnesses

E. sagging … forces

 

The best answer is E. The adjective sorely is most appropriately used with either lagging or sagging. Joined harnesses is illogical. Joined forces is idiomatic.

 

As recently as the 1980s, production far outstripped ___________, and the government was paying dairy farmers $1 billion to thin their herds while it bought tons of ___________ cheese.

 

A. supply… extra

B. planning … unwanted

C. demand … surplus

D. quota… surreptitious

E. billing… supercilious

 

The best answer is C. For the first blank, choices A and E are illogical. B and D are ungrammatical. Since production “far outstripped demand,” surplus is a logical choice for the second blank.

 

After Borden received ___________ in 1856 for producing concentrated milk in a vacuum, condensed milk became an important part of the dairy ___________.

 

A. an award… subject

B. a copyright… field

C. a document… trade

D. a patent … industry

E. power of attorney… business

 

The best answer is D. Choices A and D can logically fill the first blank, but industry makes much more sense for the second choice.

 

 

Tuberculosis kills 1.5 million people a year and nearly two billion people worldwide have ___________ tuberculosis infection, a massive potential reservoir for the ___________.

 

A. sleeping… affliction

B. latent … disease

C. raging… affiliation

D. dozing… illness

E. rampant… circumstance

 

The best answer is . Since there is a potential reservoir, it makes sense that the disease is dormant. Choices A, B and D all have the same meaning but only latent is a word applied to a disease.

 

 

The ___________ multi-cellular creatures on earth, sponges are collections of loosely organized single cells with no true organs or ___________ .

 

A. plain… glands

B. plainest… tissue

C. simpler… tools

D. simplest … tissues

E. small… pianos

 

The best answer is D. An expression of the form The ______ something on earth requires the use of the superlative (-est) form to fill the blank. Organs and tissues are both parts of a body so they logically fit together.

 

A highly ___________ gas, methyl bromide is injected into the soil before planting, ___________ out nearly everything alive.

 

A. toxic … wiping

B. redundant… moving

C. foul… selling

D. noxious … killing

E. recombinant… taking

 

The best answer is A. A gas cannot be redundant or recombinant. Killing out is not idiomatic, while moving out cannot be used in a transitive sense.

 

Most easily measured ___________ gains come from increasing the capital stock and improving the efficiency with which the capital stock is used.

 

A. lucrative…

B. lachrymose…

C. economic …

D. correctional…

E. gainful…

 

The best answer is C. Lucrative and gainful gains are redundant. Lachrymose and correctional are illogical.

 

 

No other people of the world are quite so ___________ with installing and ___________ expanses of short grass — mostly around houses but also at schools, parks, golf courses, graveyards, freeway embankments and corporate headquarters.

 

A. taken… keep

B. misguided… saving

C. allusive… tapering

D. inclusive…savoring

E. obsessed… maintaining

 

The best answer is E. Choices C and D are illogical. B is incorrect because one cannot be misguided with something. Choice A is incorrect because the second blank must be filled with a gerund form (-ing).

 

 

Ranchers have long despised prairie dogs, believing (___________, according to some new research) that they deprive cattle of ___________.

 

A. erroneously … forage

B. incredulously… space

C. frantically … greens

D. abstrusely… graze

E. utterly… food

 

The best answer is A. Erroneously is the best choice because it qualifies the word believing.

 

 

___________ in the University's Research Park, the Patton Center is the catalyst that brings together the people and ideas necessary for ___________ successful enterprises.

 

A. Found… beginning

B. Stationed… setting

C. Lying… inaugurating

D. Facing… fixating

E. Located … launching

 

The best answer is E. Stationed is used for army personnel. Facing cannot be followed by in. Lying is unidiomatic. Launching an enterprise is an idiomatic expression.

 

 

Timber rattlesnakes used to be common in a range ___________ from Oklahoma and Nebraska up the Appalachians to southern New England, and ___________ the Mississippi river to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

 

A. progressing… by

B. extending … along

C. extenuating… forward

D. persevering… onward

E. originating… siding

 

The best answer is B. Extending from x to y is an appropriate expression to discuss a range of land. Along is the best choice to describe something extending the length of a river.

 

The castle is now a tourist ___________, bringing visitors and restoration volunteers from ___________ countries.

 

 

A. drawer… multiple

B. collector… several

C. attraction … numerous

D. sighting… various

E. abode… dismissible

 

The best answer is C. Tourist attraction is idiomatic. Numerous is a adjective that can appropriately be applied to countries.

 

The grandson of a Haitian slave, Dumas became the most famous author in France; now, his rousing romantic novels are enjoying renewed ___________.

 

A. infamy

B. unanimity

C. disrepute

D. popularity

E. disparity

 

The best answer is D. Since Dumas was the most famous author, it is logical that what is renewed is his popularity.

 

Today, as in the ___________, whether for chefs ___________ their restaurants with fresh produce, or customers interested in homemade cakes and preserves, farmers' markets promise not only freshness but sociability.

 

A. country… stocking

B. past … supplying

C. secret… hoarding

D. history… supplied

E. east… collecting

 

The best answer is B. The word past makes a logical contrast to today. History cannot be proceeded by the.

 

 

With tools such as lasers, climate-controlled research chambers and, of course, computers, Hatfield and his ___________ are bringing soil science into the next ___________.

 

 

A. employees… term

B. cohorts… dimension

C. colleagues … century

D. minders… exponent

E. facilities… component

 

The best answer is C. Colleagues is an appropriate term to refer to members of a research team. To bring something into the next century is idiomatic.

 

Though the general died young, leaving his son without an inheritance, the young man overcame ___________, the lack of ___________ education to become one of the world's most popular writers.

 

A. exuberance… secular

B. poverty … formal

C. adversity… expedient

D. lethargy… liberal

E. illness… legal

 

The best answer is B. Since he was left without an inheritance, overcoming poverty is logical. The expression formal education is idiomatic.

 

Every healthy body at rest ___________ a certain amount of energy just keeping the organs functioning and blood ___________.

 

A. expends … circulating

B. puts off… clotting

C. using… pushing

D. burning… flow

E. endeavors… mingling

 

The best answer is A. Grammatically, the present simple tense is called for to fill the first blank. Expends is a suitable verb to describe the use of energy. For the second blank a gerund (-ing) form is required to maintain parallelism.

 

Euthanasia, the act of humanely ___________ animals that are hopelessly sick or ___________, is a controversial topic.

 

A. maiming… hurt

B. executing… wounding

C. slaughtering… wounded

D. killing … injured

E. assassinating… injuring

 

B. executing… wounding

C. slaughtering… wounded

D. killing … injured

E. assassinating… injuring

 

The best answer is D. Assassinating can only be applied to people. Maiming, executing and slaughtering have more negative connotations than killing and therefore could not be used with the adjective humanely.

 

 

Change is particularly difficult for some animals, especially ___________ who have been used to the same daily ___________ for a long time.

 

A. them… grind

B. those … routine

C. these… habit

D. critters… habitat

E. whomever… habitation

 

The best answer is B. Those is the best pronoun to refer back to animals. For the second blank, daily grind is appropriate in meaning, but is a slang expression. A habit cannot be describe as daily in the sense of general behavior.

 

 

Chapter 4: