SAT sentence completion practice test 06

1. The crew of the air balloon ____ the sand bags to help the balloon rise over the hill.

A. capsized
B. jettisoned
C. salvaged
D. augmented
E. enumerated

2. We were not fooled by his ____ arguments; his plan was obviously ____ .

A. cogent - brilliant
B. hackneyed - banal
C. convoluted - labyrinthine
D. specious - untenable
E. lucid - intelligible

3. Hawkins is ____ in his field; no other contemporary scientist commands the same respect.

A. disparaged
B. ignominious
C. obsolete
D. anachronistic
E. preeminent

4. The model paraded in front of the celebrities with ____ ; it was impossible to tell that this was her first assignment.

A. panache
B. opprobrium
C. shame
D. trepidation
E. terror

5. The term lead pencil is a ____ ; pencils are filled with graphite not lead.

A. misnomer
B. misdemeanor
C. peccadillo
D. euphemism
E. metaphor

6. The ____ weather forced us to stay indoors.

A. enticing
B. glorious
C. restorative
D. inclement
E. congenial

7. It will be hard to ____ Leonid now that you have so ____ him.

A. pacify - soothed
B. mollify - incensed
C. antagonize - irritated
D. anger - ruffled
E. subdue - subjugated

8. The lectures on quantum physics were invariably ____ ; the lecturer ____ his ill-prepared material in a manner guaranteed to send even the most ardent student to sleep.

A. stimulating - delivered
B. pedestrian - enthused about
C. soporific - droned
D. scintillating - intoned
E. arcane - marshaled

9. Edward was understandably upset that he had lost the position, but he was ____ by the conviction that he had done nothing to ____ the dismissal.

A. consoled - merit
B. warmed - avoid
C. comforted - mar
D. miffed - delay
E. saddened - earn

10. Elinor ____ to counteract her negative feelings, but only succeeded in ____ them.

A. tried - allaying
B. hoped - mitigating
C. desired - ameliorating
D. hesitated - deprecating
E. endeavoured - intensifying

11. She was roundly condemned for her ____ ; she betrayed the woman to whom she owed her success.

A. truculence
B. perfidy
C. serendipity
D. pragmatism
E. discernment

12. The progress of the disease is ____ ; it spreads stealthily without any symptoms in the early stages.

A. dramatic
B. acute
C. blatant
D. insidious
E. inexorable