Questions

 

Since he had __________ over the company from his father only a year before, he blamed himself for destroying a business relationship his father spent seventeen years __________ .

 

A. presided… cultivating

B. hovered… developing

C. ruled… crushing

D. relinquished… taking

E. taken… building

The best answer is E. While presided, hovered and ruled are all suitable before over, only taken over… makes sense coming before from his father.

 

 

Savvy leaders know that there is no single map for __________ leadership; the rules change depending on whom you are guiding and the __________ around you.

 

A. altruistic… contradictions

B. effective… conditions

C. successful… natives

D. abysmal… situation

E. topical… criteria

 

The best answer is B. Because the sentence starts with Savvy leaders, the first blank must be something positive, as in choices A, B and C. Of the three, conditions is the most logical choice.

 

 

A voluntary school drug-testing __________ proposed by the mayor and school superintendent __________ make this crime-plagued city the first to experiment with this approach.

 

A. test … should

B. program … would

C. study… can

D. class… will

E. investigation… ought to

 

The best answer is B. Because the drug-testing is just proposed, i.e. only a possibility, the second blank should be filled with would.

 

 

__________ we bought equipment at the end of last year but weren't billed until 2003, we had to include it on this year's books.

 

A. Because

B. Despite

C. So

D. Whereas

E. After

 

The best answer is A. Only choice A is grammatical and creates a logical connection between the two parts of the sentence.

 

 

For the first time in 38 years, Essex Packaging has __________ an unprofitable quarter.

A. understood

B. managed

C. handled

D. experienced

E. related

 

The best answer is D. Semantically, the word experienced is the most logical choice.

 

The proposed random testing plan has brought a debate to Virginia that was already __________ in national political __________ .

A. intense… opinions

B. flouncing… rings

C. floundering… groups

D. talking… parties

E. raging … circles

 

The best answer is E. A debate can be said to be raging, but not flouncing, floundering or talking. Political circles is idiomatic. Choice A is incorrect because a debate cannot be intense in a political opinion.

 

The governor has shied from taking a position on the issue, but the Civil Liberties Union said it would actively __________ any program that forced inmates to sign the __________ .

 

A. support… interface

B. challenge … document

C. reflect… text

D. sustain… certification

E. revere… petition

 

The best answer is B. The word but makes it clear that what the Union does is different from what the governor has done. Support and challenge are both suitable options, however, one does not sign an interface.

 

 

Scanners have long been neglected by the designers of the PC world — __________ boxes that take up far too __________ space on the desktop.

A. sleek… many

B. ornamental… little

C. clumsy… few

D. clunky… much

E. blusterous… numerous

 

The best answer is D. Since designers have neglected scanners, one expects them to be described in negative term, such as clumsy or clunky. Of the possibilities for the second blank, only little and much are grammatical suitable with a non-countable noun such as space.

 

The plan is proving popular, if __________ , in New Bedford, where it was originally suggested to Kramer at a __________ of faith-based organizations earlier this month.

 

A. trendy… assembly

B. widespread… opportunity

C. controversial … forum

D. cumbersome… dispersal

E. prevalent… summit

 

The best answer is C. Because of the word if, the first blank must contrast with popular. Controversial and cumbersome provide a suitable contrast. Dispersal is illogical.

 

Miller unveiled his __________ research plan to the committee last Tuesday; he expects to have a final plan ready for a __________ by January.

 

A. preliminary … vote

B. luminous… printing

C. concluding… decision

D. definitive… judgment

E. ultimate…verdict

 

The best answer is A. Preliminary research plan is logical since it contrasts logically with the final plan.

 

 

Had the attempt to increase sales succeeded, Fox would have had __________ to believe the Forester Plan could set similar __________ .

 

A. cause … tables

B. foundation… traditions

C. underpinning… tribunals

D. reason … records

E. keystone… verifications

 

The best answer is D. Cause and reason fit in the first blank, but reason to believe is an idiomatic expression. Similarly, to set records is idiomatic.

 

The joint government web site was specially created to educate small firms __________ their wage and __________ reporting responsibilities.

 

A. about … tax

B. on… refund

C. concerning… salary

D. apropos… earnings

E. in… income

 

The best answer is A. To educate someone about something is idiomatic. Since the second blank comes after wage and… the blank will most likely be filled with something similar to wages. Salary and earnings, however, mean the same thing as wage, and are therefore illogical choices.

 

A solid __________ of Americans say they want Congress to legalize the importation of lower-priced medicines from Canada and Europe, and would be willing to pay higher taxes to provide prescription drug benefits to __________ citizens.

 

A. minority… decrepit

B. faction… old

C. majority… senior

D. lobby… elderly

E. fifty percent… superfluous

 

The best answer is C. The first blank comes after the adjective solid. It would be unusual to use solid to describe a minority, faction or lobby. Old and elderly make sense, but only senior citizens is idiomatic.

 

On April 15, Sangers International, a __________ mainstay here for 112 years, told its 300 employees to stop work mid-shift because it was __________ down.

 

A. factious … closing

B. manufacturing … shutting

C. economic … slogging

D. economical… traipsing

E. mechanized… pulling

 

The best answer is B. Only closing down and shutting down are idiomatic and logical. Factious does not make sense in the context of the sentence.

 

 

In talks on this trip, the prime minister has tried, without much __________ , to persuade foreign leaders to stop weakening their __________ against the dollar.

 

A. gratification… money

B. accomplishment… billfolds

C. accompaniment… exchange

D. voracity… tender

E. success … currencies

 

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The best answer is E. The first blank, which appears in a parenthetical expression, logically qualifies the expression the minister has tried. Currencies is the only choice which can logically be compared to the dollar.

 

A week-long investigation began yesterday in Florida, with __________ speculation on the cause of the crash centering on damage to the plane’s right wing.

A. final

B. momentary

C. initial

D. middling

E. definitive

 

The best answer is C. Since it is the first day of an investigation that is scheduled to last a week, it makes sense that the speculation was called initial.

 

__________ its high concentration of family-owned manufacturing firms, dating back to the late 1800s, Blendens Furniture is accustomed to the ups and downs of the business __________ .

 

A. Having… phase

B. With … cycle

C. Due to… rotation

D. Owning… sequence

E. Overseeing… disarray

 

The best answer is B. Having and owning at the beginning of a sentence cannot precede its. For the second blank, cycle is the best choice for something described as having ups and downs.

 

 

Last week, Texitron, an American firm with factories in 40 countries, __________ it was closing two more plants, __________ the number of Texitron jobs lost to 1,030 this year.

 

 

A. determined… setting

B. decided… deranging

C. proclaimed… putting

D. announced … bringing

E. alerted… raising

 

The best answer is D. Choice B, C and D can fit in the first blank. However, only bringing the number to… is idiomatic.

 

In true entrepreneurial style, Kelly has turned the popular book into a __________ global business of books, games, and videos that teach the __________ of financial freedom that he used to build his fortune.

 

A. flourishing… whim

B. starving… tenet

C. skulking… dogma

D. thriving … principles

E. pedestrian… ideas

 

The best answer is D. Since it was done in entrepreneurial style, one would assume that what Kelly did was successful. Flourishing and starving are, therefore, apt. For the second blank, principles is a much better choice since one does not teach a whim.

 

 

With its personal touches, including twice-daily housekeeping and round-the-clock concierge service, the hotel has a delightful your-wish-is-our-command air about the place, without the __________ you might find __________ .

 

A. ornamentation… somewhere else

B. stuffiness … elsewhere

C. artifacts… missing

D. dankness… beyond

E. insubordination… away

 

The best answer is C. The sentence is praising the hotel so one would expect that the hotel would be without something negative. Insubordination can only be used to describe a person. Dankness and stuffiness are appropriate choice for the first blank, but beyond is not a logical choice for the second blank.

 

Chapter 3: