SAT sentence completion practice test 04

1. Scrooge, in the famous novel by Dickens, was a ____ ; he hated the rest of mankind.

A. misanthrope
B. hypochondriac
C. philanthropist
D. hedonist
E. sybarite

2. A businessman must widen his horizons; a ____ attitude will get you nowhere in this age of global communications.

A. moderate
B. petrified
C. parochial
D. diversified
E. comprehensive

3. Our bookshelves at home display a range of books on wide-ranging subjects and in many languages, reflecting the ____ tastes of our family members.

A. anomalous
B. limited
C. arcane
D. furtive
E. eclectic

4. Plastic bags are ____ symbols of consumer society; they are found wherever you travel.

A. rare
B. ephemeral
C. ubiquitous
D. fleeting
E. covert

5. Dr. Stuart needs to ____ his argument with more experimental data; as it stands his thesis is ____ .

A. support - profound
B. bolster - acceptable
C. refine - satisfactory
D. buttress - inadequate
E. define - succinct

6. After an initially warm reception by most reviewers and continued ____ by conservative thinkers, Bloom's work came under heavy fire.

A. criticism
B. endorsement
C. denigration
D. counterattack
E. refutation

7. Through the 19th Century, the classics of Western Civilization were considered to be the ____ of wisdom and culture, and an ____ person - by definition- knew them well.

A. foundation - average
B. epitome - uneducated
C. cornerstone - obtuse
D. font - ecclesiastical
E. repository - educated

8. In this biography we are given a glimpse of the young man ____ pursuing the path of the poet despite ____ and rejection slips.

A. doggedly - disappointment
B. tirelessly - encouragement
C. sporadically - awards
D. successfully - acclaim
E. unsuccessfully - failure

9. All European countries are seeking to diminish the check upon individual ____ which state examinations with their ____ growth have bought in their train.

A. rights - liberating
B. liberties - empowering
C. spontaneity - tyrannous
D. foibles - inevitable
E. creativity - soporific

10. In keeping with his own ____ in international diplomacy, Churchill proposed a personal meeting of heads of government, but the effort was doomed to failure, as the temper of the times was ____ .

A. ideas - pluralistic
B. predilections - inimical
C. aversions - hostile
D. impulses - amicable
E. maxims - salacious

11. The wall and floor decorations created by Indian housewives are usually ____ , remaining hours, days, or at most, weeks before being worn off by human activity or weather and replaced by new ____ .

A. perennial - drawings
B. ephemeral - designs
C. trivial - purchases
D. impermanent - furnishings
E. innovative - pictures

12. The subtle shades of meaning, and still subtler echoes of association, make language an instrument which scarcely anything short of genius can wield with ____ and ____ .

A. confidence - aloofness
B. definiteness - certainty
C. sincerity - hope
D. conservatism - alacrity
E. eloquence - ruthlessness