Sentence Completions
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Practice Set 4
1.    Vermeer’s paintings were ------- by certain patrons during the artist’s lifetime, but it was not until the nineteenth century, some three hundred years later, that he was universally -------.
(A) collected . . praised
(B) influenced . . rewarded
(C) scorned . . promoted
(D) relished . . dismissed
(E) overseen . . guarded
2.    Though the mayor claimed that he acted out of ------- when he ordered several new homeless shelters to be built, his critics maintained a more ------- view, insisting that the plans were actually to benefit a local contractor.
(A) curiosity . . inaccurate
(B) respect . . egalitarian
(C) charity . . skeptical
(D) frustration . . productive
(E) determination . . complicated
3.    Dante’s Divine Comedy, written in three parts, is a ------- work that many people, daunted by the task of reading it in its entirety, often read it in its ------- form.
(A) subtle . . universal
(B) voluminous . . abridged
(C) barbaric . . censored
(D) morose . . unedited
(E) tedious . . original
4.    The dance program at the festival was -------, incorporating pieces from many different cultures and eras.
(A) sporadic
(B) impeccable
(C) perilous
(D) eclectic
(E) lyrical
5.    Candidates for public office often ------- popular views expressly to ------- public approval, even though the candidates do not necessarily hold those views personally.
(A) deter . . aggravate
(B) denounce . . replace
(C) sanctify . . arouse
(D) neglect . . impeach
(E) espouse . . garner
6.    Humans have a tendency to assign personality traits to whole species of animals, saying, for example, that cats are ------- because they like to explore and that dogs are ------- because they enjoy the company of people.
(A) inspiring . . reverential
(B) inquisitive . . gregarious
(C) uninhibited . . dour
(D) jovial . . despotic
(E) reticent . . nurturing
7.    Despite her general -------, Gretchen could often be ------- with people when she felt stressed.
(A) affability . . brusque
(B) reliability . . imprecise
(C) contentment . . relentless
(D) tenderness . . erratic
(E) animosity . . obtuse
8.    Recipes for watercolor paint caution against adding too much pigment, lest the paint become -------, resulting in watercolors that are too thick and sticky to work with properly.
(A) translucent
(B) ponderous
(C) malleable
(D) glutinous
(E) vitiated
9.    The ancient Romans valued ------- greatly; they considered the ability to speak ------- a true gift.
(A) kinetics . . speciously
(B) egotism . . spontaneously
(C) rhetoric . . compellingly
(D) dialogue . . imperiously
(E) poetics . . sincerely
10.    An avid fan of mystery novels, Warren loved to solve the crimes and asked his sister not to spoil the mystery book she had just read by revealing details of its -------.
(A) aphorism
(B) epitaph
(C) preface
(D) denouement
(E) metaphor


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