Questions

 

The reopening marks the end of a massive, inside-and-out ___________ project that shrouded the society's terra-cotta headquarters in scaffolding for nearly four years.

 

A. reduction

B. reunification

C. commiseration

D. renovation

E. conservation

 

The best answer is D. It is logical that a reopening would follow a renovation.

 

Diego silenced the ___________ and turned her passion for scrapbooks into a successful retail and ___________ business.

 

A. devotees… public

B. enthusiasts… marketable

C. detractors… economic

D. concordances … profitable

E. skeptics … wholesale

 

The best answer is E. One silences opposing voices, therefore, choices D and E can logically fill the first blank. Retail and wholesale logically go together.

 

Stenton, who was ___________ in New York City in 1915, spent most of his life sharing his love of music by teaching others to ___________ the piano.

 

A. educated… listen

B. born … play

C. taught… love

D. raised… appreciate

E. grown… adore

 

The best answer is B. The first blank requires a verb to refer to an action that happened in 1915. Other than choice B, all the choices refer to things that happen over a period of years.

 

 

Today Calder is the youngest by nearly two generations at the veteran’s hospital, where he ___________ therapy and ___________.

 

A. undergoes … rehabilitation

B. has… restoration

C. does… healing

D. suffers… analysis

E. experiences… treatment

 

The best answer is A. Choices A and B can logically and idiomatically fill the first blank. Restoration is incorrect because it is not a word one applies to humans.

 

 

More and more people are considering mortgages that require the ___________ to pay only the monthly ___________ on the loan.

 

A. taker… profits

B. client… revenues

C. instigator… dividends

D. borrower … interest

E. investigator… capitol

 

The best answer is D. Choices C and D are illogical for the first blank. Choice A is not idiomatic. Revenues is not a word used to describe payments made by an individual.

 

 

Some economists are predicting that demand will catch up with productivity shortly, ___________ an enormous boom in job growth.

 

 

A. making

B. shooting

C. spurring

D. spinning

E. goading

 

The best answer is C. Spurring, a verb whose origins come from the spurs of a horseback rider’s boots, is appropriate to describe something that causes an enormous boom.

 

 

The city is ___________ to annex land for new, suburban-style homes, but zoning abuses blight existing neighborhoods with ___________ construction.

 

A. scheduled… exquisite

B. talking… opulent

C. foregoing… errant

D. slated… illegal

E. considering… succulent

 

The best answer is D. Only choices A and D are both logical and grammatical for the first blank. For the second blank, however, exquisite is not a logical adjective to describe a blight.

 

In ___________ of resolving the profound economic and social problems that continue to ___________ the nation, the president's removal last July accomplished nothing.

 

A. sense… butter

B. light… libel

C. coin… malign

D. means… disturb

E. terms … plague

 

The best answer is E. In terms of is idiomatic. Plague is the best choice to refer to profound economic and social problems.

 

Some agencies offer financing ___________ for developers to encourage the building of ___________ housing.

 

A. incentives … rental

B. perks… semi-permanent

C. bonuses… viable

D. encouragement… marketable

E. raises… salable

 

The best answer is A. Perks, encouragement and raises are usually given to employees, not developers. Housing cannot be viable.

 

 

Marks, ___________ forecaster, estimates that, compared to the administration's dividend tax cuts, extending unemployment benefits would produce a 20 times ___________ positive effect on the gross domestic product.

 

A. a reliable… greatest

B. an economic … greater

C. an intuitive… great

D. a moneyed… worse

E. a furtive… worst

 

The best answer is B. Choices A, B and C are reasonable to fill the first blank. D and E are possible, but would be unusual. After a 20 times greater___, a comparative form of adjective is needed, such as greater.

 

 

As a politician's wife, Carole Samuels became active in her own ___________, attending chamber of commerce breakfasts and historical society meetings, and ___________ in the Gardener’s Club.

 

 

A. way… convened

B. time… convening

C. self… ran

D. right… running

E. identity… chaired

 

The best answer is D. In her own right is idiomatic. A gerund is needed to fill the second blank to maintain parallelism.

 

Seth Walters has ___________ more than four decades in commercial banking, ___________ from a bank messenger to president and CEO of the Merchant’s Bank.

 

A. caroled… upping

B. resided… increasing

C. loafed… raising

D. spent … rising

E. squandered… starting

 

The best answer is D. Grammatically, choices A, B and C cannot fit in the first blank because they would have to be followed by a preposition. Choice E is unlikely – if the time had been squandered, Walters would not have risen to the position of president.

 

As healthcare costs grow, the problem of the underinsured will only get ___________, as corporations seek to control costs by continuing to raise ___________ for employees.

 

A. worse … deductibles

B. depleted… deductions

C. alleviated… welts

D. recompensed… interest

E. disparaged… abscesses

 

The best answer is A. The phrase the problem will only get ___, is generally followed by something negative, such as worse. Deductibles is logical since the sentence refers to insurance (the problem of the underinsured).

 

At the school, she wrote and directed several ___________ productions about the Everglades and its ___________ as well as tributes to historic Floridians, such as Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

 

A. physical… fauna

B. theatrical … animals

C. musical… locations

D. creative… flora

E. prolific… alligators

 

The best answer is B. Theatrical productions and musical productions are idiomatic. Animals is a better choice than locations for something that belongs to the Everglades.

 

Some residents claim that the timing of the strike was inappropriate, considering the ___________ economy.

 

A. flourishing

B. harmonizing

C. shivering

D. questionable

E. illiterate

 

The best answer is D. Choices B, C and E cannot be applied to an economy. A strike is generally considered inappropriate when the economy is poor, hence D is a better choice than A.

A wildfire roaring through the ___________ of the San Bernardino Mountains burned as ___________ as 20 homes and forced thousands to flee.

 

A. crests… various

B. foothills … many

C. summits… numerous

D. grounds… far

E. trees… much

 

The best answer is B. It would be nearly impossible for a fire to roar through the crests or summits of mountains. Many is the appropriate choice to agree with homes.

 

Businessmen and investors may be ___________ a little easier now that the initial fears ___________ by the elections of leftist presidents in neighboring countries have been muffled.

 

 

A. living… released

B. working… tipped off

C. breathing … unleashed

D. thinking… forestalled

E. pondering… untapped

 

The best answer is C. To breath easier is idiomatic. Used metaphorically, fears can be unleashed.

 

Arguing that the roots of many of the region's problems are more political and institutional than economic, the lecturer claimed that the government will now stress the need to ___________ corruption and ___________ bureaucracy.

A. arm… unwieldy

B. forego… international

C. attack… exceptional

D. defuse… permissive

E. tackle … inefficient

 

The best answer is E. Attack and tackle are the only logical choice for the first blank. The word bureaucracy is rarely preceded by a positive adjective.

 

 

Compared to economic disaster areas like Venezuela and Argentina, where the ___________ shrank by 12 percent last year, Brazil's outlook is ___________.

 

A. economy … rosy

B. population… undecided

C. integration … advantageous

D. specification… ambiguous

E. profit… perilous

 

The best answer is A. Choice A is the most logical for the first blank. Profit could not follow the when referring to an entire country. For the second blank, there is a contrast set up between Venezuela and Argentina on the one hand, and Brazil on the other. Since the former are disaster areas, the second should be positive.

 

 

Throughout the downturn of the past few years, economists and analysts have trumpeted our historic increases in productivity as the one ___________ in an otherwise dreary economic ___________.

 

A. upturn… neighborhood

B. indication… surrounding

C. positive … environment

D. advisory… background

E. allocation… milieu

 

The best answer is C. The phrase as the one x in an otherwise dreary… sets the stage for a positive word filling the blank.

 

Chapter 5: