Words in Context

Answer: A

The next sentence says Ruggeri used “the same questions that the earlier study did” to “reproduce that study’s findings,” so the questions must have been the same as — identical to — the 1979 study’s.

B — Contradicts the passage (he used the questions, so they were not unavailable).

C — Introduces information not discussed (entertainment value is never raised).

D — Contradicts the passage (same questions can’t be more difficult).

Answer: B

The scientific method described — predict, collect and analyze data, draw a conclusion — is a process for gaining knowledge, so it helps us learn about water filtration.

A — Is unsupported (nothing about conflict).

C — Is unsupported (humor is never raised).

D — Contradicts the passage (the method builds knowledge, it doesn’t cause forgetting).

Answer: D

The fellowship recognizes exceptional artists, and the example artist was “chosen for his lifetime contributions to the arts”, so the blank needs a word meaning to formally recognize achievement; “honor” fits.

A — Off-topic: “begin” describes starting something, not recognizing the achievements of artists.

B — Wrong connotation: “overshadow” means to diminish, the opposite of celebrating exceptional artists.

C — Wrong connotation: “distract” implies drawing attention away, contradicting the fellowship’s purpose of honoring artists.

Answer: B

The passage states “These works are widely praised”, so what Edwards receives as an artist is public praise; “acclaim” fits.

A — Not stated: “guidance” concerns direction given to him, but the text describes praise of finished works.

C — Topic-related but wrong: “sympathy” does not follow from work being widely praised.

D — Wrong connotation: “tolerance” implies mere acceptance, not the praise that widely praised work earns.

Answer: C

The tools were used "to study" sounds and the scientists then "claim that these patterns are specific calls" — the tools found patterns that were already there, so detected fits.

A — "created" reverses the logic (the patterns exist in the elephants' sounds; the tools don't make them).

B — "corrected" is unsupported — nothing is being fixed.

D — "scattered" contradicts the passage, which is about uncovering and identifying a pattern, not dispersing one.

Answer: A

(Tribute that resembles) The passage is "a long passage in tribute to Faulkner" so close that "anyone familiar with Faulkner's writing would see the resemblance" — an imitation.

B — Contradicts the passage ("tribute," not forgetting).

C — Contradicts the passage ("tribute," not rejection).

D — Is unsupported — an "opinion" would not produce a visible "resemblance.".

Answer: D

"finding" means locating/identifying the right beginning. "the hardest part … is finding the beginning" — the difficulty is pinpointing which point starts the story; "finding" = identifying.

A — Wrong-context word: "insulting the beginning" is meaningless here; nothing in the text is about offense.

B — Twists the meaning: the beginning may be hard to find, but "finding" itself is the act of locating it, not the quality of being confusing — the choice swaps the action for a description.

C — Wrong-context word: "finding" describes a task the storyteller performs, not a comforting effect.

Answer: B

"I drop my bag and set my guitar case against a wall" — "drop" is parallel to "set … against a wall," a physical placing of an object, i.e., put down.

A — "Unbolt" is unsupported — a bag is not unbolted; nothing mechanical is described.

C — "Forget about" twists the meaning — he is actively handling his belongings, not forgetting them.

D — "Erase" is off-topic — a bag cannot be erased; the action is physical placement.

Answer: B

"esteemed portraits" and "characteristic works" show Edwards is celebrated for this work, so he has a reputation for painting portraits.

A — Reverses the direction — nothing is negative; "esteemed" rules out a "complaint.".

C — Contradicts the passage — "esteemed" leaves no "question about" his work.

D — Introduces information not discussed — there is no obligation or "requirement.".

Answer: C

Something like "find" or "discover" — fans use social media to come across new music. "Social media is changing how country music fans find new songs" + "check these platforms before trying traditional radio" — fans use social media to discover (find) new music.

A — Off-topic / doesn't answer the question — fans are finding new songs, not repeating them.

B — Twists Passage Words — the point is locating new music, not committing it to memory.

D — Off-topic / doesn't answer the question — finding music is not a computation.

Answer: D

The colon defines the blank: the elements “are joined together into a single cohesive unit”, so the blank needs a word meaning linked together; “interconnected” fits precisely.

A — Off-topic: “informal” describes a lack of structure, not parts being joined into a whole.

B — Contradicts the passage: “optional” implies the elements are dispensable, not bound into one cohesive unit.

C — Off-topic: “outmoded” means outdated, which says nothing about the elements being connected.

Answer: C

The colon gives evidence that the team’s discoveries were numerous: Carpo is “just one of over one hundred that they have spotted,” so the blank needs a word meaning abundant; “plentiful” fits.

A — Off-topic: “inferior” judges quality, but the contrast concerns the large quantity of discoveries.

B — Topic-related word: “random” describes a lack of pattern, not the sheer number of satellites found.

D — Off-topic: “likely” expresses probability, not the abundance the over-one-hundred figure establishes.

Answer: D

The passage states “early hominins intentionally chipped away at rocks” to form the spheroids, so the blank describing that attempt needs a word meaning purposeful; “deliberate” fits.

A — Off-topic: “concerning” means worrying, which does not describe an intentional shaping effort.

B — Reasonable but not stated: “comparable” requires a comparison the passage does not make about the stones’ roundness.

C — Off-topic: “sympathetic” means showing empathy, irrelevant to deliberately rounding stones.

Answer: A

"continues to use Apollo's data" → the value persists (endures over time); matches "long-term.".

B — Twists Passage Words — value does not "respond" to anything; the passage describes ongoing use, not a reaction.

C — One Word Wrong — "arrives" implies a value that newly shows up, but the data is decades old and still in use; nothing in the text marks an arrival.

D — Topic-related distractor — "agrees" needs two parties in accord; the sentence is about endurance of value, not agreement.

Answer: B

(Flying a kite) The father gets the kite "so high that Gogol must tip his head back in order to see, a rippling speck against the sky" — "raise" means to move it upward into the air.

A — Is unsupported (nothing is being strengthened).

C — Is off-topic (no congratulation).

D — Twists the meaning ("grow" implies increasing in size, but the kite rises, it does not enlarge).

Answer: C

"truly" = genuinely / really — emphasizing the degree to which he shines. “This is where Pheus truly shines”; “it's as if he becomes another person, a more heightened version of himself”.

A — Reverses the direction: "a more heightened version of himself" is the opposite of "mildly.".

B — Reverses the direction: he shines intensely on stage; "scarcely" would mean he barely does.

D — Off-topic / not stated: nothing in the passage concerns rudeness; the bow and clap are courteous.

Answer: D

The data were "mostly inaccessible until a recent data-transfer project made them ______," and the project then "allowed researcher Seiichi Nagihara to make use of the information," so it made the data available.

A — Is off-topic — nothing concerns whether the data is predictable.

B — Reverses the direction — the project enabled use, the opposite of making the data complicated.

C — Introduces information not discussed — representativeness is never raised.

Answer: C

"being included suggested that a business was an important part of the community," so being featured was beneficial — it was advantageous.

A — Contradicts the passage — being seen as "an important part of the community" is positive, not risky.

B — Introduces information not discussed — nothing suggests the inclusion deceived anyone.

D — Contradicts the passage — "an important part of the community" is the opposite of unremarkable.

Answer: B

The blank = a word meaning highly valuable, e.g., "precious.". "just as valuable as ___ metals such as gold and silver" needs a value word; "precious metals" is exactly that and matches cloth being "exchanged like currency.".

A — Off-topic: "simple" describes complexity, not value; it doesn't support "just as valuable as.".

C — Contradicts the passage: gold and silver are being used to convey high value, so "common" undercuts the "just as valuable" comparison.

D — Off-topic: "tedious" describes effort/boredom, irrelevant to how valuable the metals are.

Answer: D

"On the beach Gogol ______ rocks, digs tunnels in the sand" describes a child picking up rocks, so "collects" most nearly means gathers.

A — Is a surface-level synonym — "collects" can mean accumulate, but he is not increasing the number of rocks in existence.

B — Contradicts the passage — he is not creating rocks.

C — Contradicts the passage — the active play ("digs tunnels") shows he is engaging with the rocks, not ignoring them.

Answer: C

The book is meant to appeal to / interest both kinds of readers. "it should be of interest to researchers as well as current and aspiring entrepreneurs" — the book is intended to appeal to two kinds of readers.

A — Reverses the direction: the book is meant to draw two audiences in, not take something away from them.

B — Twists the relationship: the book interests readers; it does not assess the readers themselves.

D — Contradicts the passage: "of interest to" both groups is positive; bewildering them is the opposite of the stated aim.

Answer: A

Asai Chū used / employed European methods. Parallels "Kawai used a centuries-old Japanese approach"; "using oil on canvas" confirms Asai Chū employed European methods.

B — Wrong-context word: one cannot "overhear" painting methods; the parallel with "used" requires an action of applying them.

C — Contradicts the passage: "using oil on canvas to produce Western-style paintings" shows the methods were actually applied, not merely imagined.

D — Wrong-context word: "punished European methods" is nonsensical and breaks the parallel with "used.".

Answer: A

Something like “operate” or “work” — without a working battery the device cannot run, so it becomes trash. “rely on batteries” + “once the batteries stop working, the devices are typically disposed of as trash” — a device that can’t function without a battery is discarded when the battery dies.

B — Topic-related word — the passage never says the devices grow or expand; nothing supports a size sense.

C — One Word Wrong — gadgets do not “decide”; no span attributes decision-making to the devices.

D — Twists Passage Words — “taken out” describes removing the battery, not what the gadget itself fails to do; the blank is about the device’s inability to operate, which is why it is trashed.

Answer: C

Something like "found" or "identified" — the program successfully recognized sidewalks. "training a computer program to identify sidewalks" + "could even distinguish between concrete and brick" — to detect is to successfully identify, exactly what an accurate recognition program does.

A — Contradicts the passage — "accurately" and "could even distinguish between concrete and brick" describe success, not error.

B — Twists Passage Words — the program is built to identify sidewalks, not to grant approval to them.

D — Reverses the direction — "neglected" means failed to deal with, the opposite of working "accurately.".

Answer: A

Something like "shown" or "made visible" — the fossils exposed the similarities. "allowed scientists to see features that look like features found in arthropod species living today" — the fossils made the similarities visible, i.e., revealed them.

B — Reverses the direction — the imaging confirms similarities ("look like features found in.. species living today"), it does not cast doubt on them.

C — Twists Passage Words — a similarity is a relationship, not an object that can be fixed; nothing is broken or mended.

D — Off-topic / doesn't answer the question — the passage is about making similarities visible, not preserving or shielding them.

Answer: C

The blank must say squash, like lima beans, is now different from its wild ancestor — "no longer identical to the structure of the wild plant they are descended from" sets the parallel, and the ancestor's "hard rind and bitter flesh" was bred into a "soft rind and mild-tasting flesh," i.e., the modern crop varies from it.

A — "reacts to" twists the meaning — a plant lineage does not "react"; nothing describes a response.

B — "helps with" is unsupported and off-topic — the ancestor is not assisted by the modern crop.

D — "argues with" is unsupported — plants do not argue; the relationship is one of difference, not disagreement.

Answer: A

"recall" here means to bring the dream back to mind — to remember it. "struggles to recall it, and can re-capture nothing but a dim sense" — the dreamer is trying to retain the dream in memory; "recall" = remember.

B — Reverses the direction: the dreamer is desperately trying to hold onto the dream, not to ignore or miss it.

C — Wrong-context word: one does not "activate" a fading dream; the action described is retrieving a memory, not switching something on.

D — Wrong-context word: "deny" means to refuse or reject; nothing in "re-capture … a dim sense of the beauty" suggests rejection.

Answer: A

The blank = the "staggering variety" itself — something like "variety/difference.". Directly restates "a staggering variety of forms" — the differences the rest of the sentence contrasts with shared features.

B — Contradicts the passage: "banality" means dull sameness, the opposite of "a staggering variety of forms.".

C — Off-topic / doesn't answer the question: "sagacity" means wisdom; the passage discusses forms of animals, not intelligence.

D — Reverses the direction: "consistency" is what vertebrates share despite the blank — putting it in the blank destroys the "But … underneath" contrast.

Answer: C

The blank = "different/separate" kinds of activities — "distinct.". Restated by "separate spaces" and "This segregation of dissimilar tasks" — the zones were for different (distinct) activities.

A — Contradicts the passage: organizing zones is presented as deliberate and sensible, not impractical.

B — Reasonable-but-not-stated: the text never frames the layout as unusual or breaking a norm, only as separating dissimilar tasks.

D — Off-topic: difficulty of the tasks is never discussed; the point is their separation by type.

Answer: D

The romantic style is contrasted with realist accuracy and described as having shown “subjects' beauty or heroism while hiding all imperfection”, so the blank needs a word meaning to overstate positive qualities; “exaggerate” fits.

A — Twists the meaning: “correct” implies fixing flaws, but romantic painters concealed imperfection rather than repairing it.

B — Wrong connotation: “mock” means to ridicule, contradicting a style that flattered subjects’ beauty.

C — Reverses the direction: “undermine” would diminish the subjects’ beauty, the opposite of glorifying it.

Answer: B

Literature was the medium through which the new nation built its identity, with authors “helping to shape what would become a distinctly Mexican literary tradition”, so the blank needs a word meaning to bring into being; “realized” fits.

A — Wrong connotation: “evaded” means avoided, contradicting a nation actively constructing its own identity.

C — Wrong connotation: “decried” means to condemn, clashing with the positive act of forming a national tradition.

D — Reasonable but not stated: “overcame” implies an obstacle the passage never identifies in the nation’s identity.

Answer: D

The passage offers a method — to “track how often other scholars refer to that research” — for assessing a scholar’s importance, so the blank needs a word meaning to gauge or quantify; “measure” fits.

A — Reverses the direction: “diminish” means to reduce, but tracking citations assesses importance rather than lessening it.

B — Reverses the direction: “increase” would raise importance, not evaluate how significant the research already is.

C — Off-topic: “vary” means to change, which does not describe assessing the importance of research.

Answer: B

(Overlook the subtleties) The second sentence explains the blank: scholars "may inadvertently overlook nuances" — to discount (disregard) subtleties.

A — Twists the meaning ("denounce" means to condemn, not overlook).

C — Reverses the direction ("magnify" is the opposite of overlooking).

D — Reverses the direction ("scrutinize" means to examine closely, the opposite of overlooking).

Answer: A

The dash explains the blank: staff “consulted numerous sources to ensure the accuracy of the displays”, so the blank needs a word meaning thoroughness; “rigor” fits.

B — Off-topic: “novelty” means newness, not the careful thoroughness the source-checking describes.

C — Contradicts the passage: “shallowness” means superficiality, the opposite of consulting numerous sources for accuracy.

D — Off-topic: “obscurity” means being little known, which does not describe research quality.

Answer: A

He lacks a fixed plan/aim for the outcome — something like "a specific plan for.". "Instead, he makes up his designs as he weaves" shows he lacks a predetermined aim — a specific "intention for" the final product.

B — Twists the meaning: the contrast is about planning versus improvising, not about how much he admires the result.

C — Not stated: nothing says he copies an existing model of the final product.

D — Twists the meaning: whether he "accepts" the outcome is not the issue; the text contrasts having a plan with improvising.

Answer: A

The blank = bringing the tribes together — "uniting.". The action produces "this new alliance" capable of overwhelming the Chinese — exactly bringing the tribes together.

B — Contradicts the passage: weakening the tribes could not yield an "alliance … capable of overwhelming Chinese strongholds.".

C — Contradicts the passage: antagonizing the tribes would not create a cooperative "new alliance.".

D — Reverses the direction: isolating the tribes is the opposite of forming an "alliance" among them.

Answer: D

Something like "conveys" or "indicates" — the English around a Spanish word points the reader toward what it means. "so readers who aren't familiar with Spanish can easily read the novella" — the surrounding English suggests (indicates) the meaning, which is why those readers can follow it.

A — Twists Passage Words — if the text "loses" the meaning, non-Spanish readers could not "easily read the novella"; this contradicts the result clause.

B — Topic-related word — "purchases their meaning" is not something a text can do to a word's meaning; no span supports a transaction sense.

C — One Word Wrong — "suspects" implies doubt or suspicion about the meaning; the passage says the surrounding text helps readers understand, not that it doubts.

Answer: A

The researchers added “pots of sterilized soil with slurries of live microbes” and then grew plants in them, so the blank needs a word meaning to introduce living organisms; “populated” fits.

B — Reverses the direction: “precluded” means prevented, but the microbes were deliberately introduced, not kept out.

C — Contradicts the passage: “sanitized” means to make germ-free, the opposite of adding live microbes to soil.

D — Off-topic: “estimated” describes calculating a quantity, not the physical act of seeding pots with microbes.

Answer: C

The sentence contrasts the early situation with the present, in which “the task has become nearly impossible”, so the blank needs a word meaning the opposite of impossible — achievable; “feasible” fits.

A — Topic-related word: “substantial” describes size or amount, not whether the naming task could be accomplished.

B — Off-topic: “ambiguous” means unclear, which does not contrast with “nearly impossible.”

D — Ignored contrast signal: “insurmountable” is a synonym for impossible, eliminating the required before-and-after contrast.

Answer: C

Wang defends polling because beyond predictions “it helps strategists identify where their efforts are most likely to be effective”, so the blank needs a word meaning to disregard; “neglect” fits.

A — Off-topic: “distort” means to misrepresent, not to abandon polling, which is what Wang warns against.

B — Reverses the direction: “supplement” means to add to, contradicting the idea of dropping polling entirely.

D — Off-topic: “enact” means to put into effect, the opposite of ceasing to use polling.

Answer: A

The relationship “provides a nutritious meal for the bird and removes potentially dangerous bacteria” for both parties, so the blank needs a word meaning mutual; “reciprocal” fits.

B — Twists the meaning: “interchangeable” implies the roles could be swapped, but the bird and crocodile have distinct, fixed roles.

C — Contradicts the passage: “inefficient” implies waste, yet each party gains a clear benefit.

D — Contradicts the passage: “unequal” implies imbalance, but both species benefit from the arrangement.

Answer: B

Filmmakers had a stake in “convincing the public to embrace the new medium” and used critics to help legitimize film, so the blank needs a phrase about how the public regards cinema; “perception of” fits.

A — Twists the meaning: “contribution to” concerns what the public adds to cinema, not how the public views it.

C — Off-topic: “reproduction of” means copying, which does not describe shaping public opinion.

D — Off-topic: “application to” suggests practical use, not the public’s view of the medium.

Answer: A

Firms that cluster together in a region. "firms that locate near one another" defines firms concentrating in a region.

B — Not stated: nothing is about something happening repeatedly over time.

C — Reverses the direction: dispersing is the opposite of locating near one another.

D — Not stated: the firms continue operating; nothing ends.

Answer: D

The brain makes up for the gap — "compensate.". "the brain can ________, filling in what is missing" — to make up for incomplete input is to "compensate.".

A — Wrong-context word: "captivate" means to fascinate; the brain isn't charming anyone, it's filling a gap.

B — Not stated: there is no prior state the brain returns to; it supplies missing information.

C — Twists the meaning: the brain adds the missing part, it doesn't block anything off.

Answer: D

Scores with CSR mentioned should be greater than scores without it — the blank means "be higher than.". "CSR efforts … improve its corporate image" means the CSR-mentioned favorability scores would surpass — "exceed" — the scores given when CSR wasn't mentioned.

A — Twists the meaning: scores do not "identify" other scores; nothing supports a labeling sense.

B — Twists the meaning: "improve its corporate image" indicates a positive, orderly effect, not a disruption of the other scores.

C — Twists the meaning: the two score sets are compared, not substituted one for the other.

Answer: D

Coastal vs. mountain vs. San Juan preparations → the style is localized (varies by locale).

A — One Word Wrong — the variation is by region (coast/mountain/city), not by time of year; "season" is never mentioned.

B — Reasonable But Not Stated — nothing says any preparation is owned or secret; restaurants "explore innovations" openly.

C — Topic-related distractor — cooking can be meticulous, but the sentence contrasts where it is made, not how careful the cooking is.

Answer: D

Mrs. Erlynne wonders “whether the fogs produce the serious people or whether the serious people produce the fogs” — i.e., whether one causes (brings about) the other.

A — Is unsupported (nothing is being “attached”).

B — Twists the meaning (“fancy” means to like, not to cause).

C — Is a surface-level synonym for “produce” that misfits this causal context (fogs don’t “make available” serious people).

Answer: D

Tom looked over / inspected the fence. "He surveyed the fence … Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high" is Tom looking it over and taking in its extent.

A — Not stated: Tom does not change the fence; he has not started painting yet.

B — Off-topic: nothing in the passage is about advancing or advertising anything.

C — Not stated: he does not arrange or order the fence; he only looks at it.

Answer: C

"demonstrated an independent streak" = exhibited/displayed it, supported by "they also bucked convention.".

A — Topic-related distractor — an "independent streak" might involve protest, but the family is described as keeping "their heads down and worked," not protesting; "demonstrated" here is not the rally sense.

B — One Word Wrong — they did not define a streak; they displayed one through their behavior.

D — Surface-level synonym — "confirmed" implies verifying something already proposed; the passage shows the trait being displayed, not verified.

Answer: B

The contrast "Unlike Kuroda Seiki, who adopted traditional European methods" sets Hishida opposite Kuroda, and "For instance, Hishida produced [the work] by applying color pigments to a silk scroll" shows he used traditional Japanese approaches — he embraced them.

A — Contradicts the passage — the silk-scroll example shows he used the approaches, not distrusted them.

C — Twists the meaning — "released" does not fit "approaches.".

D — Is an ignored contrast signal — the contrast is Kuroda-versus-Hishida, so Hishida adopted (did not "overlook") the Japanese approaches.

Answer: D

Because maize "shows so little resemblance to any wild plant," genetic research was needed to confirm teosinte grass as its ancestor — to establish a link the appearance does not reveal.

A — Is off-topic — you do not "acquire" an ancestor.

B — Twists the meaning — research does not "develop" teosinte into the ancestor; the ancestry already exists.

C — Is off-topic — "attract" makes no sense with "ancestor.".

Answer: A

The blank = "passed through and [came out of it intact]" — i.e., "survived.". "Protected by a strong heat shield" and "allowing it to transmit footage … back to Earth" show it endured the ejection — "passed through and survived.".

B — Twists the meaning: it "passed through" the ejection, not trailed behind it; "followed" breaks the "both … and" pairing.

C — Reverses the direction: the ejection acts on the probe, not the probe on the ejection; a tiny probe does not "affect" a coronal mass ejection.

D — Reasonable-but-not-stated: it transmitted footage of the event, but the text never says it collected/"gathered" the ejection itself.

Answer: A

"supported by massive sandstone pillars, stalwart" describes the pillars physically bearing the bridge's weight, so "supported" most nearly means held up.

B — Is a surface-level synonym — pillars do not "encourage" a bridge; that sense of "support" is wrong here.

C — Is off-topic — nothing concerns improvement.

D — Is a surface-level synonym — "defended" is a sense of "support" that does not apply to load-bearing pillars.

Answer: A

Because “data-privacy advocates are seeking to expand online players' knowledge of data collection practices”, the games must not be transparent about that information; “opaque” fits.

B — Twists the meaning: “ambivalent” means having mixed feelings, but the issue is lack of disclosure, not the games' attitude.

C — Off-topic: “abrasive” describes a harsh manner, not how much information is disclosed.

D — Reverses the direction: if the games were “outspoken” about their practices, advocates would not need to expand players' knowledge.

Answer: C

Something like "writes" or "makes" — he produces his signature in brush strokes. “he carves his name”; “his signature in fat brush strokes below paintings”.

A — Twists Passage Words — he is signing artwork, not advertising or advancing anything.

B — Twists Passage Words — "leaves his signature" means he writes it, not that he permits something.

D — Off-topic / doesn't answer the question — nothing is being moved; he is producing a signature.

Answer: B

Science fiction acts as something that triggers or drives advancements — a "trigger / spur.". "inspiring developments … sparking the design … have spurred many actual innovations" makes science fiction a "catalyst" — something that brings advancements about.

A — Reverses the direction: a "diversion from" would steer attention away, but the text says it "spurred many actual innovations.".

C — Reverses the direction: a "constraint" would limit advancements; the text describes it enabling them.

D — One Word Wrong: "sponsor" implies funding/backing; the text describes inspiring and sparking ideas, not financing the technology.

Answer: B

Recovering data trapped on obsolete media so it becomes available again — exactly "salvage.".

A — Not stated: the goal is access to the data, not making it simpler.

C — Twists the meaning: the data isn't being corrected/changed, just recovered.

D — One Word Wrong: nothing says the data is being made better, only made accessible.

Answer: A

(Regulatory oversight eases worry) Knowing the exchange "ensur[es] those companies receive certain regulatory oversight" should ease "worries" so investors can "instead focus on identifying sound business opportunities" — to assuage.

B — Twists the meaning (you do not "convey" worries here).

C — Reverses the direction ("amplify" would increase worry, the opposite of what the sentence needs).

D — Is off-topic ("designate" does not act on worries).

Answer: B

The blank is restated by the appositive "variations in size, shape, and material" — the particles differ from one another, so inconsistencies fits exactly.

A — "restraints" is off-topic (nothing is being held back).

C — "incompatibilities" twists the meaning — the particles aren't failing to work together, they simply vary.

D — "disruptions" introduces an interference idea the passage never states; the difficulty is the variation itself, not a disturbance.

Answer: A

"internal carbon recycling" and "reabsorb. and harness it" → some reuse of carbon was expected; the surprise is the extent (40%).

B — One Word Wrong — nothing is being imitated; the process is recycling, not copying.

C — Topic-related distractor — "supply" of carbon fits the science topic loosely but does not match "recycling/reabsorb"; the sentence is about reusing carbon, not its availability.

D — Twists Passage Words — scientists examined the algae, but the blank describes what the algae do with carbon (reuse it), not an act of study.

Answer: A

Drivers who think the toll "is currently too high" contrast with "a more persuadable segment," so they are unlikely to be receptive to a proposal to raise it.

B — Twists the meaning — being "apprised of" (informed of) the proposal does not fit the persuasion logic about who can be won over.

C — Reverses the direction — drivers who oppose the increase would more likely be incensed by it, so "unlikely to be incensed" contradicts their stance.

D — Is off-topic — "cited in a proposal" makes no sense for these drivers.

Answer: C

The methods must be as variable / shifting as the changing conditions. "as ______ as the shifts in climate and condition to which they adapt" — the methods must be as changeable as the changing conditions.

A — Not stated: nothing in the text concerns the smallness of the methods — the comparison is to the shifts, not to size.

B — Not stated: the passage never frames the adaptive methods as forceful or aggressive.

D — Twists the meaning: the suberin example shows a method that varies with conditions, not one that is intricate; complexity is never the point of comparison.

Answer: D

The influences are wide-ranging / varied. "a vast and eclectic range of sources from the ancient to the contemporary," plus mixed technique and mood, makes the influences diverse.

A — Contradicts the passage: a mix of classical technique, modern satire, and "a vast and eclectic range of sources" is the opposite of straightforward.

B — Not stated: the passage describes the range of influences, never the ease or difficulty of his work.

C — One word wrong / wrong scope: only the technique is old; the subject matter spans "the ancient to the contemporary," so "antiquated" mischaracterizes the whole.

Answer: B

"nature had determined to throw every ______ obstacle" means every obstacle that could be thought of, so "conceivable" most nearly means imaginable.

A — Is a surface-level synonym — "conceivable" can loosely suggest something apparent, but the context is "every possible obstacle," not an obvious one.

C — Is off-topic — "straightforward" describes ease, the opposite of the obstacle-laden journey.

D — Twists the meaning — "uninterrupted" does not describe an "obstacle.".

Answer: D

The tides shape / affect the delta. "shift sediments along the coast and reshape the deltaic lobes over time" is exactly the tides influencing the delta's shape and size.

A — Goes too far: "reshape … over time" is neutral change; nothing says the tides improve the delta.

B — Contradicts the passage: tides actively "shift sediments" and "reshape" the delta — that is alteration, not protection.

C — Not stated: there is no comparison in which the delta is exceeded.

Answer: B

The blank describes an approach defined by hidden identity — "secretive / concealed.". "published anonymously" and "challenged readers to guess authors' identities" make the approach secretive — "clandestine.".

A — Off-topic: nothing marks this as an early or introductory stage; the point is the anonymity.

C — Reverses the direction: hidden authorship is the opposite of clear and unambiguous.

D — Twists the meaning: the approach is deliberately mysterious to readers, not impossible to explain; the text explains its purpose plainly.

Answer: B

The blank means combining / supplementing this research with live-plant studies. "such specimens represent only brief moments … this research with studies involving live plants would enable a fuller understanding" shows the live-plant work completes/supplements the preserved-specimen work.

A — Not stated: the issue is the research's limited scope, not how it is classified.

C — Twists the meaning: nothing says one body of research is emphasized over the other; they are joined.

D — Not stated: the research is not predicting the live-plant studies; it is combined with them.

Answer: D

The Mole eagerly anticipates “the moment when he would be at home again among the things he knew and liked” — an eager longing for a coming moment, which “looking forward to” captures.

A — Surface synonym: “managing” matches one sense of anticipate (handling in advance), but the passage describes desire, not handling anything.

B — Twists the meaning: “getting ahead of” is the preempt sense of anticipate, yet nothing here is being forestalled.

C — Not stated: “revealing” has no basis; the Mole discloses nothing by hurrying home.

Answer: C

The light “steals away in corners dark to die” — it quietly departs and fades, so the phrase means it slips away.

A — Contradicts the passage (the light fades and dies, it doesn’t restore itself).

B — Is a surface-level synonym that doesn’t fit (“works away” implies labor, not vanishing).

D — Is unsupported (the light doesn’t “identify” anything).

Answer: B

Historians present "ordinary workers as nearly devoid of agency," so they have tended to marginalize rank-and-file workers — push them to the side.

A — Reverses the direction — to "epitomize" workers would make them central, the opposite of "devoid of agency.".

C — Reverses the direction — "extol" means to praise highly, contradicting "nearly devoid of agency.".

D — Is off-topic — "substantiate" concerns proving a claim, not how workers are portrayed.

Answer: C

"He was also ______ the poor and marginalized, promoting racial reconciliation and publishing numerous bulletins with practical guidance for small farmers." His ongoing work on their behalf is exactly the evidence of being committed to them.

A — One word wrong (too weak). Merely being "aware of" the poor doesn't match "promoting … and publishing … practical guidance," which is sustained action, not passive awareness.

B — Reasonable but not stated. "Obligated to" implies an imposed duty, but the passage presents Carver's help as something he actively chose to do; no source of obligation is mentioned.

D — Reverses the direction. "Rewarded by the poor" would mean he received something from them; the passage shows him giving to and helping them, and never says they rewarded him.

Answer: B

"Despite" sets up a contrast with "influential," and "frustratingly dense prose" that readers must "manage to penetrate" shows the works seem opaque (hard to understand) at first glance.

A — Is an ignored contrast signal — "Despite" needs a negative trait to oppose "influential," but "authoritative" is positive.

C — Is off-topic — nothing concerns whether the works are empirical.

D — Contradicts the passage — "facile" means simplistic, the opposite of "frustratingly dense prose.".

Answer: C

Corpora allow "empirical testing of hypotheses," and the example frames a claim a corpus analysis "can support" — so what one "has" is a supposition (a hypothesis to be tested).

A — Twists the meaning — "recognition" implies the fact is already known, not a claim awaiting testing.

B — Twists the meaning — a "scheme" is a plan, not a proposition about word frequency.

D — Is off-topic — a "synopsis" is a summary, not a testable claim.

Answer: C

The research "suffered from a myopic focus.. partly due to limited data availability," and researchers "would later ______ this shortcoming after gaining new access to banking records" in Africa and Eastern Europe — the new data lets them mitigate (lessen) the shortcoming.

A — Twists the meaning — researchers do not "presuppose" a shortcoming they are fixing.

B — Is off-topic — nothing concerns classifying the shortcoming.

D — Reverses the direction — to "validate" the shortcoming is the opposite of remedying it with new data.

Answer: C

The dash restates the point: “other economists clearly find her studies valuable for their own scholarship”, so the blank needs a word meaning to emphasize what citations show; “underscores” fits.

A — Off-topic: “forestalls” means to prevent, which does not describe demonstrating her work’s usefulness.

B — Reverses the direction: “belies” means to contradict, but the citations confirm rather than disprove her usefulness.

D — Reverses the direction: “overshadows” means to diminish, the opposite of highlighting her research’s value.

Answer: A

The blank means "create / produce" comfort — something like "engender.". "so that people will find it easier to interact with them" — the features are designed to bring about comfort, i.e., "engender" it.

B — Reverses the direction: "repudiate" (reject) the feelings of comfort is the opposite of the intended positive effect.

C — Twists the meaning: to "counterbalance feelings of comfort" would offset them, not produce them, contradicting the design goal.

D — Reverses the direction: "constrict" (limit/restrict) comfort opposes the goal of making interaction easier.

Answer: D

The earlier observation motivated the study — "prompted by.". "a previous observation … raising questions about thermoregulation in fungi" — the observation motivated the study, so it was "prompted by" it.

A — Reverses the relationship: the observation drives the study, it doesn't keep it out.

B — One Word Wrong: merely "acknowledging" the observation understates the causal link — the study exists because of it ("raising questions").

C — Wrong-context word: a study isn't "released in" an observation; this doesn't describe the cause-and-effect.

Answer: C

The colon explains the two methods work together: seismic monitoring shows “roughly where an impact has occurred,” then orbital images of that limited area precisely locate the crater; “complementary” fits.

A — Reverses the relationship: “redundant” means duplicative, but each method does a different, dependent job.

B — Off-topic: “exhaustive” describes thoroughness of one method, not how the two combine.

D — Reverses the relationship: “interchangeable” means substitutable, yet the methods perform distinct steps and rely on each other.

Answer: B

Something like "revealing" or "making clear" — the writers bring the many experiences of the Hawaiian people into view for a global readership. "brought Hawaiian literature to international prominence" + "for readers around the world" — to illuminate is to make clear or known, exactly what these writers do with "the manifold experiences.".

A — Twists Passage Words — "excising" means cutting out or removing; that reverses the direction of "brought.. to international prominence," which is about bringing experiences forward, not deleting them.

C — Topic-related word — the passage never says the writers govern or restrain those experiences; "controlling the experiences" is not supported by any span.

D — One Word Wrong — "presupposing" means assuming beforehand; the writers present these experiences to readers, they do not take them for granted.

Answer: B

"not just the performance. but also a lecture. and a slideshow" → the recitals are multifaceted (many-sided).

A — Ignored contrast — "circumscribed" means limited/restricted, the opposite of a recital that adds a lecture and slideshow.

C — One Word Wrong — "undiscerning" means lacking judgment; nothing implies the recitals lack taste, and it does not capture "many parts.".

D — Topic-related distractor — a recital could be lively, but the sentence stresses the number of components, not energy or enthusiasm.

Answer: C

The 19th-century writers are just as central / important to Mexican literature as the celebrated post-Revolution writers. "considered the leading figures of the Mexican literary canon … just as ________ Mexican literature" — being essential to the literature is exactly the importance the parallel requires.

A — Reverses the direction: "just as" parallels "the leading figures of the Mexican literary canon" — a status of importance, not of being ignored.

B — Reasonable-but-not-stated: nothing in the text says these writers divide opinion; "just as" demands a match to "leading figures," not a controversy claim.

D — Twists the relationship: the parallel is the writers' importance to the literature (like "leading figures"), not how much they personally know about it.

Answer: A

"Whenever Ezeulu considered the immensity of his power… he wondered if it was real" — he is thinking it over, reflecting, so pondered fits.

B — "anticipated" introduces a future-looking sense the text never states; he reflects on power he already has.

C — "allowed" twists the meaning — he doesn't permit his power, he contemplates it.

D — "respected" is a topic-related word (power can be respected) but not what the sentence's "wondered if it was real" requires.

Answer: D

The drawbacks became apparent / clear. "made themselves very manifest" as the years wore on means the drawbacks became evident.

A — Not stated: nothing says the drawbacks are complex, only that they emerged over time.

B — Twists the meaning: the drawbacks are real and felt ("made themselves very manifest"), not merely possible.

C — One Word Wrong: "particular" (specific) does not capture "made themselves … manifest," which is about becoming visible.

Answer: D

Polynesian languages have eight to eleven consonants while “the median number of consonants per language is over twenty-two”, so the blank needs a word meaning small relative to that norm; “a modest” fits.

A — Off-topic: “a musical” describes sound quality, not the small quantity of consonants.

B — Twists the meaning: “an unvarying” means constant, but the examples cite differing counts of eleven and eight.

C — Off-topic: “an exclusive” means restricted to a group, which does not describe a small number.

Answer: D

“However” marks a break from Lucian’s usual critiques: this work uses sci-fi tropes and is “regarded by some scholars as the earliest known work in the genre”, so the blank needs a word meaning ahead of its time; “visionary” fits.

A — Off-topic: “authorized” means officially approved, which does not describe a work anticipating a future genre.

B — Off-topic: “applicable” means relevant, not forward-looking or imaginative.

C — Ignored contrast signal: “sarcastic” matches his usual satire, but “however” signals this work is different.

Answer: D

Her work is preceded / led up to by a long heritage. A "rich literary history" running from Kanaka Maoli stories to David Malo is the heritage that came before this "contemporary" author.

A — Twists the meaning: a literary history does not condense her work; the relation is temporal, not a summary.

B — Contradicts the passage: the heritage is called "distinctive and vibrant," not ignored.

C — Reverses the direction: the heritage did not replace her contemporary work; it came before it.

Answer: C

(Discontinued software) The parenthetical pins the blank: the software is "most notably Adobe Flash, discontinued in 2021," which is why the works are now inaccessible — defunct (no longer in operation).

A — Twists the meaning ("extraneous" means irrelevant, but the software is required, not irrelevant).

B — Is the surface-level near-synonym ("arcane" means obscure/mysterious, not discontinued — the works are inaccessible because the software stopped existing, not because it is esoteric).

D — Reverses the direction (if the software were "ubiquitous" the works would still be viewable).

Answer: D

The blank describes documentaries that are superficial — "offering stories without any depth," set in "refreshing contrast" to one that supplies "compelling historical and social context." Perfunctory (done with minimal effort, cursory) matches "without any depth.".

A — "cryptic" twists the meaning — cryptic means hard to understand, but the flaw described is shallowness, not obscurity.

B — "inaccessible" is the wrong shade — the films are not unreachable, they are depthless.

C — "haughty" is off-topic — arrogance is never discussed; the contrast is depth vs. no depth.

Answer: C

High-altitude studies are contrasted with below-sea-level work, which “has received comparatively little notice”, so the blank needs a word meaning plentiful to oppose that scarcity; “abundant” fits.

A — Ignored contrast signal: “sporadic” means infrequent, which fails to contrast with “comparatively little notice.”

B — Off-topic: “equivocal” means ambiguous, describing the studies’ clarity, not their quantity.

D — Ignored contrast signal: “preliminary” means early-stage, which does not create the abundance-versus-scarcity contrast.

Answer: C

Before the 1600s, “highly decorated and detailed sets were not common”, so simple stages would have been the norm and the blank needs a word meaning anticipated; “expected by” fits.

A — Reasonable but not stated: “disliked by” assumes a negative reaction the passage never reports for past audiences.

B — Contradicts the passage: “confusing to” implies bafflement, but plain sets were ordinary then, not perplexing.

D — Contradicts the passage: “exciting to” implies novelty, yet bare stages were standard before the 1600s.

Answer: D

Playwrights' finances were typically unstable / insecure. “was often ______, but being as commercially successful as he was”; “granted William Shakespeare security”.

A — Wrong-context word: a financial situation isn't "indecipherable"; nothing concerns being hard to read or interpret.

B — Off-topic: whether the situation was warranted is never discussed; the contrast is about stability vs. security.

C — Ignores the contrast signal: "but … security" requires the opposite of secure; a predictable situation could still be secure, so it doesn't complete the contrast.

Answer: A

The ability appears “regardless of musical training,” and “even participants with no musical training could easily follow the underlying beat” — so it is inborn, an instinct the participants already have.

B — Twists the meaning: an effortless “capability” isn’t a task that is deliberately “undertaken.”

C — Reasonable but not stated: “imposed on” implies an outside force, but the ability arises from the participants themselves.

D — Reverses the direction: “unique to” would make the trait exclusive, but the text calls it broadly shared (“most hearing adults”).

Answer: B

His name breathes bravery and “courage to the tribe who calls him chief”, conferring those qualities onto the tribe; “imparts” fits.

A — Contradicts the passage: the name supplies courage to the tribe, it does not “reject” it.

C — Reverses the direction: the name gives out bravery rather than “absorbing” it.

D — Not stated: “acquiesces” (yields or agrees) has no basis in the lines.

Answer: B

A reign is “considered historically significant or, conversely, relatively” the blank, and “conversely” demands the opposite of significant, so “inconsequential” fits.

A — Ignored contrast signal: “momentous” is a synonym for significant, ignoring the “conversely” that requires its opposite.

C — Off-topic: “benevolent” means kind, which does not contrast with historical significance.

D — Off-topic: “genuine” means authentic, unrelated to whether a reign mattered historically.

Answer: A

The entries are hoaxes that “persisted on the site for many years before they were finally recognized as falsehoods and deleted”, so the blank needs a word meaning fake; “spurious” fits.

B — Off-topic: “scrupulous” means careful and principled, the opposite of describing fraudulent entries.

C — Twists the meaning: “palpable” means easily perceived, but these falsehoods went undetected for years.

D — Off-topic: “compulsory” means required, which does not describe a hoax entry’s falseness.

Answer: B

The fossil helps researchers "not only ______ steps in the evolution of hominids but also illuminate the Pleistocene epoch.. revealing important details," so it helps them discern the steps — make them out, parallel to "illuminate" and "revealing.".

A — Is off-topic — "exploit" does not fit perceiving evolutionary steps.

C — Twists the meaning — nothing concerns ranking the steps in importance.

D — Twists the meaning — the fossil does not "yield" steps "in the evolution," and it breaks the "not only.. but also illuminate" parallel.

Answer: D

He had to prove / firmly show both points. "To support this claim … had to ______ both that…" — he had to establish (firmly prove) both points.

A — Goes too far in the weak direction: merely implying the two points would not "support this claim" — supporting a historical claim requires showing it, not hinting at it.

B — Reverses the logic: to assume the two points is to take them for granted, which would beg the question rather than "support this claim.".

C — Twists the meaning: "rule … both that" does not express demonstrating a claim; one rules on something, and the text needs evidence, not a verdict.

Answer: B

The influence is one tourists “can easily recognize how its style draws inspiration” from the missions, so the blank needs a word meaning clearly evident; “palpable” fits.

A — Twists the relationship: “corroborated” means confirmed by evidence, describing verification, not how visible the influence is.

C — Ignores the clue: “disputed” means argued over, contradicting the example of an easily recognized influence.

D — Reverses the direction: “understated” means subtle or restrained, the opposite of easily recognizable.

Answer: B

"33 percent of restaurants studied never listed on the site" despite a free listing that raised revenue 5 percent shows some businesses do not optimize their marketing — they fail to make the most of it.

A — Twists the meaning — you do not "adorn" marketing; the issue is failing to use a free channel.

C — Twists the meaning — businesses "endorsing" their own marketing does not fit the unused-listing evidence.

D — Reverses the direction — they do not work against their own marketing; the point is they underuse it.

Answer: B

"Trying" here means troublesome / irritating. "far from considerate," nearly swallowed the earrings so "she would be very uneasy" — his ways are irritating.

A — Surface synonym, wrong context: "trying" can mean "attempting," but "his trying ways" describes a temperament, not an attempt — the text gives him no goal he is "attempting.".

C — Reverses the direction: "despite all his trying ways" marks them as a negative she puts up with, not a charm.

D — Contradicts the passage: "he is far from considerate" is the opposite of obliging.

Answer: D

(Costs cancel the advantage) The contrast signal "but" sets transport costs against the fact that "imported goods may reduce expenses": for distant consumers the costs cancel "the price advantages associated with imports" — to nullify.

A — Twists the meaning (costs do not "underestimate" an advantage).

B — Twists the meaning ("misconstrue" applies to interpreting, not to an economic effect).

C — Twists the meaning ("denigrate" means to belittle, not to negate).

Answer: C

These women are “ensured lasting places in our historical memory” as the first to achieve their feats, so the blank needs a word meaning to displace; nobody can “supplant” them as first.

A — Off-topic: “stipulate” means to specify a condition, not to replace someone’s standing.

B — Off-topic: “induce” means to bring about, which does not concern unseating a record-holder.

D — Off-topic: “engender” means to give rise to, not to take another’s place as first.

Answer: C

The blank means "surpassed / outshone" — something like "eclipsed.". "there is no better example of the form" — if no one has ever "eclipsed" (surpassed) his work, his is the best.

A — Twists the meaning: "convened" (gathered/assembled a meeting) cannot take "work" as its object in this sense.

B — Twists the meaning: "augmented" means added to/enlarged; "no one augmented his work" doesn’t convey that his is the best.

D — Not stated: whether others have referenced his work says nothing about it being unsurpassed.

Answer: D

Researchers say the effect cannot be confirmed because “attempts to detect it invariably involve faulty research methods”, so the blank needs a word meaning to prove with evidence; “substantiated” fits.

A — Off-topic: “inculcated” means instilled by repetition, not proving a phenomenon true.

B — Off-topic: “rectified” means corrected, but the issue is verifying the effect, not fixing it.

C — Twists the meaning: “hypothesized” means proposed as a theory, but flawed methods bear on confirming it, not proposing it.

Answer: B

Since “no amount of justification, however, is likely to persuade some drivers” to accept a higher toll, they must already think the current toll is excessive; “exorbitant” fits.

A — Reverses the direction: if drivers thought the toll was “warranted,” they would not be the ones impossible to persuade about a raise.

C — Not stated: nothing concerns the toll being ambiguous, the meaning of “equivocal.”

D — Twists the meaning: “contentious” places the dispute in the situation, but these drivers specifically believe the toll itself is too high.

Answer: D

Before this firm evidence, the area rested on guesswork — something like "conjectural / unconfirmed.". "long debated" plus the new "concrete evidence that reconciles two competing theories" shows the area was previously based on conjecture — "speculative.".

A — Twists the meaning: "esoteric" means understood by only a few. The contrast set up by "concrete evidence … firm details" is certain-vs-uncertain, not widely-vs-narrowly known.

B — Reverses the direction: an "authoritative" area would already be settled, but the text says researchers "long debated" it before this evidence arrived.

C — Off-topic: nothing concerns the area being isolated or alone; the issue is its lack of firm evidence.

Answer: D

The longer open period is credited to ("attributed to") the small pollinator pool and the resulting pollination advantage — a cause/explanation link.

A — Twists the relationship: the factors are explanations for the longer period, not things it resembles.

B — Not stated: nothing is transformed; the period isn't "converted" into anything.

C — One Word Wrong: the factors explain why the longer period exists, not amplify its length.

Answer: C

"consideration" = careful thought / reflection. "approach college with appropriate consideration … to form a workable personality" — careful thought, i.e., reflection.

A — Wrong-context word: there is no object she admires; the issue is having time to think things through.

B — Twists the meaning: she needs time for thoughtful preparation, not a state of being unable to decide.

D — Surface synonym: "consideration" can mean thoughtfulness toward others, but here it is about her own mental preparation for college.

Answer: C

The fog is "obliterating traces of familiar landscapes" — the visible signs or hints of the landscape are being erased from view, so indications fits.

A — "debris" twists the meaning to physical wreckage, which the passage never describes.

B — "copies" is unsupported — there are no reproductions here.

D — "remembrances" shifts to memory, but the fog erases what is seen, not what is recalled.

Answer: D

People never followed / acted on the direction. "for they never came there" defines "never accepted" as never following the direction the sign gave.

A — Twists the meaning: the point is not whether people endorsed the direction but that they did not travel it ("never came there").

B — Not stated: nobody changes the signpost or its direction.

C — Not stated: the passage is about people not going there, not about permitting anything.

Answer: B

Critics found the work calmly contemplative — meditative. "sensitivity to the present moment" and "watching it unfold is almost like floating" describe a calm, contemplative effect.

A — Not stated: the elaborating example is about "sensitivity to the present moment" and "floating," not novelty or originality.

C — Not stated: nothing describes the work as puzzling or enigmatic.

D — Twists passage words: "thrilling" merely echoes "thrill-seeking" (the subject explored), but the reaction critics describe is calm presence ("like floating"), not excitement.

Answer: D

The clasts had been dismissed / written off as quality-control errors. The clasts "had been generally ______ as being the result of poor quality control" — dismissed as mere defects until researchers "found instead" their self-healing role.

A — Twists the meaning: clasts were assumed to be poor quality control, not "confirmed" as such — and "found instead" shows that assumption was wrong, not verified.

B — Not stated: no one was advising or endorsing the clasts as poor quality control; the phrase makes no sense.

C — Reverses the direction: "repudiated as being the result of poor quality control" means the poor-quality idea was rejected, but the passage says people previously believed it.

Answer: B

To survive, they are required / compelled to dry out slowly. "To survive the transition, water bears are ______ to dry out very slowly" — survival forces it, i.e., they are compelled.

A — Goes too weak: "allowed to dry out very slowly" loses the necessity that "To survive the transition" demands — it is required, not merely permitted.

C — Not stated: an animal undergoing desiccation is not "tempted"; nothing frames slow drying as an enticement.

D — Contradicts the passage: drying out slowly is exactly what lets them survive, so they are not forbidden from it.

Answer: B

They challenged the view by blending / combining domestic craft with fine-art aesthetics. "the ______ of traditional domestic practices … with the aesthetics of art" — a blending of the two, directly answering "intersections cannot exist.".

A — Twists the meaning: "the forming of [craft] with [fine-art aesthetics]" does not express a merger; "forming … with" is not how a combination is stated, and it loses the "intersection" idea.

C — Contradicts the passage: the artists did not reject domestic practices; they fused them with fine art.

D — Not stated: nothing suggests the artists were unaware of domestic practices — they deliberately used them.

Answer: D

The frieze is powerful “precisely because of its age”, and the next sentence credits the “link of shared humanity with the artist” for its resonance, so the blank means emotionally moving; “affecting” fits.

A — Off-topic: “ingenious” means clever, which does not match emotional impact.

B — Not stated: “pristine” means in original condition, contradicted by an artifact 14,000 years old and irrelevant to resonance.

C — Off-topic: “meticulous” means painstakingly careful, describing craftsmanship, not the emotional power the passage stresses.

Answer: B

"not fully reducible to economic factors but are also ______ noneconomic factors" signals that location choices are additionally shaped by noneconomic factors, i.e., mediated by them.

A — Twists the meaning — choices are not "transposed with" (swapped for) noneconomic factors.

C — Reverses the direction — "decoupled from noneconomic factors" states the opposite of being also influenced by them.

D — Twists the relationship — "antecedent to" (coming before) does not fit choices that are affected by those factors.

Answer: A

The blank means formless / shape-shifting — something like "amorphous.". "borrow elements from both fiction and essays … straddles the line between prose and poetry" — forms with no fixed shape are "amorphous.".

B — Not stated: nothing says these forms are impartial or take no side; the point is they have no fixed form.

C — Twists the meaning: "dispersed" (scattered/spread out) doesn’t describe a form that mixes genres; the issue is shapelessness, not distribution.

D — Reverses the direction: "customary" means conventional, the opposite of the "unconventional" forms the sentence describes.

Answer: D

The exhibit emphasizes the fleeting / impermanent nature of fashion. "perpetual renewal in nature" and "ephemeral elements" both convey fashion's fleeting, transient nature.

A — Reverses the direction: "perpetual renewal" and "ephemeral" point to impermanence, the opposite of being final/definitive.

B — Not stated: nothing concerns bias or incompleteness of the exhibit.

C — Twists the meaning: "ephemeral" means short-lived, not shallow or trivial.

Answer: D

The blank must restate "hackneyed" / "merely … reflect and rearrange" for all art — "because it draws on what has already been created by others for inspiration, making genuine artistic originality elusive." Derivative (imitative, based on existing work) fits exactly.

A — "obsolete" twists the meaning — outdatedness is never the charge; unoriginality is.

B — "aesthetic" is off-topic and would make the sentence praise, not echo the "hackneyed" critique.

C — "counterproductive" is unsupported — nothing says the art defeats its own purpose.

Answer: B

"not just … but also" shows the skill set goes beyond innate talent — it exceeds it.

A — Twists the meaning: the skill set doesn't copy talent, it requires more than talent.

C — Not stated: the blank isn't saying talent defines the skill set; it contrasts the two.

D — Reverses the direction: the skill set expands beyond talent, it doesn't limit it.

Answer: A

The dash lists varied forms — “the branching venation of Ginkgo biloba, the hierarchical netlike venation of Clematis reticulata, and others” — so the blank names great variety; “multifariousness” (many different forms) fits.

B — Topic-related but wrong: “obstinacy” means stubbornness, which has no bearing on a range of structural types.

C — Surface association: “entanglement” evokes tangled veins visually but means being intertwined, not being diverse.

D — Off-topic: “culpability” means blameworthiness, unrelated to variety among architectures.

Answer: C

The dash defines the blank as features “that result from impromptu deviations of performers when fidelity to an established musical score is not mandated”; the word means spontaneous, and “extemporaneous” fits.

A — Reverses the direction: “meticulous” implies careful preparation, the opposite of impromptu deviation.

B — Not stated: “inconspicuous” means unnoticeable, but the passage stresses spontaneity, not subtlety.

D — Wrong connotation: “inevitable” means unavoidable, which does not capture the unscripted, improvised quality described.

Answer: D

Whistler is contrasted with “sentimental” contemporaries and linked to photographs that “create the illusion of being objective documentations of life”; the blank needs a word meaning detached and unemotional, and “dispassionate” fits.

A — Ignores the contrast signal: “nostalgic” is essentially sentimental, the very quality Whistler is set against.

B — Not stated: “tranquil” (calm) does not capture the objectivity tied to Walker Evans's documentary style.

C — Off-topic: “peculiar” (odd) describes strangeness, not the emotional detachment the contrast requires.

Answer: D

Research shows “democratic institution strength tends to restrain inflationary pressures”; yet strong-democracy Belgium had higher inflation, so the result departs from the expected pattern and “anomalous” fits.

A — Goes too far: “inexplicable” means impossible to explain, but the result is merely unusual, not unaccountable.

B — Not stated: “unfounded” means baseless, yet the inflation figures are real data, not an unsupported claim.

C — Off-topic: “facetious” means joking, which cannot describe an economic statistic.

Answer: A

Bipedal locomotion can help reduce the negative impact of a robot's odd traits, since the blank governs “the effect of the more unnatural aspects of a robot”; it needs a word meaning to lessen something bad, and “ameliorate” fits.

B — Off-topic: “coalesce” means to merge, but the sentence is about diminishing a negative effect, not combining things.

C — Reverses the direction: “augment” means to increase, the opposite of lessening the unnatural effect.

D — Wrong connotation: “substantiate” means to prove, which does not fit reducing an unsettling appearance.

Answer: A

Though some predictions “seem ludicrous now,” Toffler's core claim fits “our age of disequilibrium and fragmentation,” so it accurately foresaw the present; “prescient” fits.

B — Off-topic: “articulate” describes how clearly something is expressed, not the accuracy of a forecast.

C — Off-topic: “iconoclastic” means attacking conventions, irrelevant to whether the claim came true.

D — Reverses the meaning: “equivocal” means ambiguous, but the passage says the claim looks remarkably on target.

Answer: D

Contrasts with "pathbreaking … unclassifiable" forms; these are the settled, "recognizable as such" forms.

A — Reverses the direction: "recognizable as such" is the opposite of elusive.

B — Reverses the direction: ambiguous fits the "unclassifiable" side, not the recognizable side being contrasted.

C — Twists the meaning: "pathbreaking" describes the intergeneric forms, not the recognizable ones in the blank.

Answer: D

The painting displays ("evinces") Vermeer's signature traits — confirmed by "including prominent use of yellow pigments.".

A — Reverses the direction: "nonetheless … including prominent use of yellow pigments" shows the painting has the traits, not avoids them.

B — Reverses the direction: rejecting the traits contradicts "including prominent use of yellow pigments.".

C — Not stated: no chronology between this painting and Vermeer's "signature traits" is given.

Answer: C

Opposite of "highly dispersed across the morphological spectrum" → tropical species are concentrated in deep-bodied forms.

A — Twists Passage Words — "habituated" means accustomed by behavior; the sentence describes morphological distribution, not learned acclimation.

B — One Word Wrong — "authenticated" (verified as genuine) makes no sense for species and body shapes.

D — Surface-level synonym — "contemporary" is a time relationship; the contrast here is about distribution of body shape, not era.

Answer: D

(Lengthened burden hinders) Delaying transfers lengthens "the period in which [working adults] are providing financial support to their nonworking parents," which works against their own "wealth creation" — to stymie (hinder).

A — Twists the meaning ("disparage" means to belittle, not to impede).

B — Reverses the direction ("outstrip" implies surpassing, not impeding).

C — Reverses the direction ("compound" would increase wealth creation, the opposite of the burden's effect).

Answer: B

Gibbon fears describing the success would reveal “the vanity of the writer” — the praise inadvertently makes his pride visible, so “exposing” fits.

A — Surface synonym: “forsaking” is the common sense of betray (abandon), but nothing is being abandoned here.

C — Not stated: “distorting” means misrepresenting, yet Gibbon worries his vanity will show, not be falsified.

D — Wrong connotation: “exploiting” means using for advantage, but he fears revealing vanity, not profiting from it.

Answer: A

The Bantu communities crossed / passed through the rainforest. "viable corridors through the vegetation" — they traversed (crossed through) the rainforest, the contrast "Whereas … constrained" requires.

B — Reasonable-but-not-stated: nothing says the Bantu destroyed the rainforest; the mechanism given is passage through corridors, not destruction.

C — Twists the passage's words: "circumvent" means to go around, but the text says corridors led through the vegetation.

D — Doesn't answer the question: preserving the rainforest is not a way of overcoming the constraint on expansion that the contrast sets up.

Answer: D

The new finding contradicts "full ectotherm," so the classification became impossible to maintain — something like "indefensible / no longer holds up.". "showed that the basking shark's body temperature is consistently 1.0 to 1.5°C warmer than the water" makes the "full ectotherm" position impossible to defend — exactly "untenable.".

A — Wrong-context word: "inconsolable" describes a grieving person, not a scientific classification. Nothing in "consistently 1.0 to 1.5°C warmer than the water" supports it.

B — Twists the meaning: the finding may be surprising, but the classification itself did not "become unexpected." The text says the position became something because contradicting data appeared — that is about defensibility, not expectation.

C — Reverses the direction: evidence that the shark is warmer than the water would weaken the "full ectotherm" position, not make it clear and unambiguous.

Answer: D

The number cannot be calculated because “the area's biota is poorly sampled and the few samples that have been taken cannot be presumed to be representative”; the blank needs a word meaning impossible to estimate, and “inestimable” fits.

A — Wrong connotation: “infinitesimal” means extremely small, but the passage says the count is unknowable, not tiny.

B — Reverses the direction: “verifiable” means confirmable, the opposite of a number that cannot be pinned down from poor sampling.

C — Topic-related but wrong: “tenuous” (weak or flimsy) describes the strength of a thing, not the inability to estimate a quantity.

Answer: B

Each breeze fights to take control of the air — "control / dominance.". "meet and conflict as though each strove for the mastery of the air" frames a struggle for control — "domination.".

A — Surface-level wrong sense: "familiarity" relates to knowing something well; the breezes "conflict," they do not become acquainted with the air.

C — Surface-level wrong sense: "mastery" can mean expertise/understanding, but the breezes are not comprehending anything; they are contending.

D — Surface-level wrong sense: another "expertise" reading of "mastery," but the clue "conflict … strove" is about prevailing, not displaying skill.

Answer: C

"of a good height" = a considerable (notably tall) height, consistent with the erect, military bearing described.

A — Surface-level synonym — "good" can mean dependable, but a height is not "reliable"; wrong sense for this context.

B — Surface-level synonym — "a good man" can mean polite, but the phrase modifies "height," a measurement, not character.

D — Surface-level synonym — "good at" can mean skilled, but a height has no ability; wrong sense.

Answer: D

The passage argues economic knowledge is essential for citizens because “economic issues cannot remain the domain only of experts”, so the negated blank needs a word meaning unnecessary; “superfluous” fits.

A — Contradicts the passage: “unattainable” means impossible to acquire, but the text urges citizens to learn economics.

B — Off-topic: “equitable” means fair, which does not address whether the knowledge is needed.

C — Off-topic: “commonplace” means ordinary, not unnecessary, so the negation would not make sense.

Answer: A

"repairs that landlords were obligated to perform themselves … a significant potential ______ … attempt to avoid their obligations." A liability is exactly a legal/financial obligation one is responsible for — and one a landlord would try to escape.

B — Topic-related word. "Disparity" means an inequality between two things; the passage compares no two unequal quantities — it describes a burden on landlords, not a gap between groups.

C — Twists the meaning. "Diligence" is careful, conscientious effort; the sentence says landlords "attempt to avoid their obligations," which is the opposite of being diligent — the relationship is reversed.

D — Reverses the direction. An "objective" is a goal one pursues, but landlords are trying to escape these repairs, not achieve them — so repairs can't be the objective.

Answer: B

Theia existed only as theory until researchers “claim to have identified pieces of the protoplanet” in Earth's mantle, so the blank means existing only as a concept; “notional” fits.

A — Off-topic: “desultory” means lacking purpose or method, unrelated to whether Theia was theoretical.

C — Reverses the direction: “veritable” means genuine or real, the opposite of unproven before the discovery.

D — Wrong connotation: “spurious” means false, but the theory was unconfirmed, not deemed fake.

Answer: A

Subjects' eyes “looked at where the target ball would have gone if the ball that altered its path did not exist” — reasoning about a scenario that did not occur, which “counterfactual” names.

B — Not stated: “analogical” means based on comparison, but subjects imagined a non-occurring outcome, not an analogy.

C — Off-topic: “ambivalent” describes mixed feelings, not a mode of causal reasoning.

D — Not stated: “associative” means based on linked ideas, which does not capture imagining what did not happen.

Answer: C

Beads were found “in many Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites across western North Africa,” so the researchers explain their widespread presence; “ubiquity” fits.

A — Off-topic: “expediency” means convenience, unrelated to how widely the beads occur.

B — Wrong connotation: “fecundity” means fertility or productivity, not geographic prevalence.

D — Topic-related but wrong: “heterogeneity” means diversity, but the passage stresses how many and how widespread the beads are, not their variety.

Answer: C

Documentation difficulties caused a knowledge gap that “Max Anderson et al. have addressed this by utilizing infrared technology”; the blank means a scarcity of information, and “a dearth” fits.

A — Twists the relationship: “an abatement” implies information decreased, but the passage describes information that was lacking all along.

B — Reverses the direction: “an aggregation” means an accumulation, the opposite of a shortage of information.

D — Off-topic: “a dissonance” means conflict or clash, not a gap in knowledge.

Answer: A) material to

The passage tells us policy openness strongly influenced swap-line decisions (probability 0.20 in open countries vs. 0.03 in restricted). So policies were important / relevant to those decisions. "Material to" captures that relevance.

B) predicated on — Reverses the direction: "predicated on" would mean environments were based on the decisions, but the passage shows the reverse — policies influenced decisions, not the other way.

C) decoupled from — Opposite direction: the data shows policies and decisions were strongly linked, not separated.

D) mediated by — Same reverse-direction trap as B: "mediated by" would mean environments were shaped by decisions, but the passage shows the reverse.

Answer: B

The structure “not somnolence but” needs the opposite of sleepiness, aligned with boredom's “anxious tension in the absence of a place to fix attention”; “perturbation” (unease) fits.

A — Off-topic: “fortitude” means courage, which does not match anxious tension.

C — Reverses the direction: “nonchalance” means calm indifference, contradicting the anxious tension described.

D — Ignores the contrast signal: “indolence” means laziness, which restates somnolence rather than opposing it.

Answer: C

"Janie talking in whispery snatches with a male voice she couldn't quite place. That brought her wide awake." To "place" a voice is to identify whose it is; her failure to recognize it is what jolts her awake.

A — Surface-level synonym. "Place" can mean to set down, but Nanny isn't physically putting the voice anywhere — "a male voice she couldn't quite place" is about recognition, not depositing an object.

B — Surface-level synonym. "Place" can mean to arrange/position, but nothing in "couldn't quite place" involves organizing or ordering the voice; it's the wrong sense for this context.

D — Surface-level synonym. "Indicate" means to point something out to others; Nanny isn't signaling the voice to anyone — she's failing to recognize it herself, which is a different idea.

Answer: A

Fragmentation "causes / produces" alterations. "the changes will likely have a greater impact on" confirms fragmentation brings the alterations into being — "engenders.".

B — Reverses the direction: "preempts" means prevents, but the text says "the changes will likely have a greater impact," so the alterations do occur.

C — Twists the meaning: "subsumes" (absorbs into a category) doesn't fit fragmentation's relationship to ecological alterations, which it causes.

D — Reverses the direction: "attenuates" means weakens; the passage treats the alterations as substantial enough to differentially harm species.

Answer: B

The monarch turns the milkweed's toxins to its own defensive advantage — it exploits them ("stores them … rendering the butterfly unpalatable to predators").

A — Reverses the direction: the toxins stay toxic ("unpalatable to predators"); they are not neutralized.

C — Not stated: the butterfly doesn't block or hinder the compounds; it uses them.

D — Contradicts the passage: the butterfly "stores them in the tissues throughout its body" — it retains the toxins rather than secreting (releasing) them.

Answer: C

These objects are useful because they are “revealing shifts in norms, values, and concerns”; they themselves embody cultural change, and “manifestations of” (visible expressions of) fits.

A — Wrong connotation: “pretexts for” means false excuses, but the objects genuinely display change, not provide cover for it.

B — Twists the relationship: “conjectures about” means guesses, yet the objects reveal change rather than speculate about it.

D — Twists the relationship: “inducements to” means causes of change, but the objects display change, they do not produce it.

Answer: D

Rising prices “had the counterintuitive effect of” creating new demand — buyers “thronged the market” — so the blank means to draw forth; “eliciting” fits.

A — Reverses the direction: “satisfying” demand means fulfilling existing demand, not generating new demand.

B — Twists the relationship: “capitalizing” means profiting from demand, but the prices created the demand, not exploited it.

C — Wrong connotation: “exploiting” means taking advantage of demand, not bringing it into being.

Answer: B

Because DOM2 wiped out the other breeds, horse populations today are uniform / all the same. "completely supplanting other horse breeds" means the surviving populations are all one breed — uniform, i.e., homogeneity, which "reflects the competitive advantages" of DOM2.

A — Twists the meaning: "profusion" is sheer abundance/quantity, but the passage stresses one breed replacing others, not how many horses there are.

C — Related but not what the subject requires: "ubiquity" would describe DOM2 itself being everywhere, but the sentence describes the character of "horse populations" — the supplanting of all rivals makes them uniform, not merely present.

D — Contradicts the passage: DOM2 "completely supplanting other horse breeds" reduces variation rather than creating it.

Answer: B

Osmond's poses are “so subtly considered” and his tastes and collections “were all for a purpose”, so “consideration” here means deliberate planning; “calculation” fits.

A — Surface synonym: “deference” is the polite-regard sense of consideration, but the passage means calculated design, not yielding to others.

C — Reverses the meaning: “indecision” contradicts a man whose every act is purposeful and controlled.

D — Surface synonym: “courtesy” is the politeness sense of consideration, not the scheming purpose the text describes.

Answer: A

The passage emphasizes that both women were the first to accomplish their feats and that this status is “ensured” for them. “Nobody can ever ______ the standing” calls for a verb meaning to diminish or weaken — “undermine” fits exactly.

B — Wrong-context word: “imply” means to suggest indirectly; you don’t “imply” someone’s standing.

C — Reverses the direction: “extend” means to prolong or expand — that would strengthen, not threaten, their standing.

D — Reverses the direction: “promote” means to advance or support, the opposite of what the “nobody can ever” framing calls for.

Answer: B

The fern's genome "is the largest known among eukaryotes—and, given the high biological costs of extremely large genomes, is unlikely to be ______": because such huge genomes are too biologically costly, no even-larger genome is likely to arise and take its place, so the record is unlikely to be superseded.

A — Twists the meaning — the point is not that the genome is unlikely to be lengthened.

C — Twists the relationship — "high biological costs" would push toward reduction, so "unlikely to be curtailed" misuses the causal "given" clause.

D — Twists the meaning — a record genome being "rendered unnecessary" does not fit.

Answer: D

The crowd is “disputing, every inch, our passage, with their wagons, handtrucks,” physically blocking the taxi’s movement, so “disputing” here means contesting or resisting passage.

A — Surface synonym: “Arguing about” takes the common sense of dispute, but the crowd obstructs with carts, not words.

B — Surface synonym: “Disapproving of” suggests an opinion, but the scene depicts physical obstruction, not judgment.

C — Twists the meaning: “Asserting possession of” implies an ownership claim, but the text stresses impeding the taxi’s movement.

Answer: A

The patent count "misrepresents / gives a false impression of" the true degree of innovation. Since "truly novel patents … are vastly outnumbered by nonnovel patents," a raw tally gives a false impression of real innovation — it "belies" the actual degree.

B — Twists the meaning: "portends" means foretells; the count isn't predicting future innovation, it's misrepresenting current innovation.

C — Twists the meaning: a count cannot "thwart" (obstruct) innovation itself; the argument is about measurement, not prevention.

D — Twists the meaning: "maligns" means speaks ill of; a tally doesn't disparage innovation, it gives a misleading measure of it.

Answer: B

Abstraction erases / wipes out the particularity of individuals. The contrast with microhistory's "focusing on singular individuals … at a human level" shows abstraction effaces (erases) individual particularity.

A — Twists the relationship: abstraction does not misinterpret individual particularity — it leaves it out, which is why microhistory must restore it.

C — Wrong-context word: "preempt" (forestall) does not fit — the particularity is not prevented in advance, it is lost in the abstracting.

D — Reverses the direction: it is microhistory that highlights individuals; abstraction de-emphasizes them, as "but" requires.

Answer: A

"reticent" + "reluctance to speak" → her reserve = a self-imposed constraint on speaking about him.

B — Surface-level synonym — "reserve" can connote modesty, but the text is about reluctance to discuss one topic, not humility about herself.

C — Surface-level synonym — "reserve" can mean calm self-control, but nothing here concerns staying calm; it concerns withholding speech.

D — Ignored contrast — the text explicitly says "no hint of disapproval," ruling out doubt or misgiving as the meaning.

Answer: D

Tradition is embedded, but her practice is not restricted/confined by it. The forms are embedded "but her practice is hardly ______ those forms" — she is not limited by them, consistent with "a unique art form that reveals everything about yourself.".

A — Contradicts the passage: the forms are "thoroughly embedded in her work," so her practice is inspired by them — "hardly inspired by" is false.

B — Contradicts the passage for the same reason: the traditional forms are embedded in her work, so it is plainly drawn from them.

C — Reverses the contrast: "hardly different from those forms" would mean her work is conventional, contradicting "but" and "a unique art form.".

Answer: A

Marija polices "that others conformed to the proprieties" but is "too eager" at this to ______ them herself — the contrast is that she enforces the proprieties on others without observing them herself, so "consider" means take into account and follow.

B — Is a surface-level synonym — "consider" can suggest regard, but the contrast is about observing the proprieties, not admiring them.

C — Twists the meaning — proprieties are not a "decision" to be reached.

D — Is a partial match — merely "having an opinion" does not complete the opposition with "see that others conformed," which requires actually following them.

Answer: B

No painter is truly impossible to imitate. "since no painter is truly [impossible to imitate], scientific tests … are sometimes used" — a copyable style is why physical tests are needed.

A — Off-topic: independence of the painter has nothing to do with whether a forger can copy a style.

C — Twists the meaning: the tests address whether a work fits the artist's lifetime, but the blank is about the painter's style being copyable, not about being of the same era.

D — Off-topic: how much a painter produced does not bear on forgery detection here.

Answer: C

An intense close analysis / examination of their behavior. "an intense ______ of their behavior … as they sought to understand such protagonists" — an intense analytical taking-apart, i.e., dissection.

A — Goes too far: "criticism" loads in negative judgment, but the stated aim is "to understand" the protagonists, not to disparage them.

B — Twists the meaning: critics analyzing behavior are not "illustrating" it; the text describes scrutiny, not depiction.

D — Not stated: nothing suggests critics were endorsing or advising the women's behavior.

Answer: C

Williams ties Poe's originality to locality — “the astounding, inconceivable growth of his locality” — so “pine from your own yard” figures the materials of one's own culture; choice C fits.

A — Twists the meaning: nothing concerns experiences being hard to comprehend; the metaphor is about local cultural material.

B — Misses the locality: “ideas you have never previously expressed” captures novelty but drops the specifically local source the “yard” image conveys.

D — Not stated: the passage never mentions inspiration from independent reading, only material from one's own surroundings.

Answer: C

The earlier Mirador developments “were a historical precondition for the sophistication exhibited by the architects of later cities” — so Caracol built on and benefited from those earlier achievements.

A — Reverses the direction: “an antithesis” would make Caracol the opposite of those achievements, not a product of them.

B — Twists the meaning: a “precondition for” later sophistication is an enabling relationship, not a copied one; Caracol developed its own sophistication rather than replicating theirs.

D — Reverses the direction: “an archetype” would make Caracol the original model, but the Mirador sites are the earlier precursors.