Vocabulary 10 test

 

Directions: select the word that best completes the sentence.

 

1. That monologue about the young accountant on her very first day on the job (rendered, emancipated) me helpless with laughter.

 

2. A good scientist will always be (skeptical, despicable) about any theory that is not backed up by convincing evidence.

 

3. The goalie’s reflexes were as sharp as ever, but the knee injury had plainly (impaired, aspired) his ability to maneuver.

 

4. It is worse than useless to (render, chide) children for misbehaving without giving them an opportunity to behave better.

 

5. I am not accusing anyone of deliberately lying, but I can prove beyond doubt that the charges are (rugged, erroneous).

 

6. When I asked the student why he wasn’t going to the Senior Prom, he answered only with a(n) (bleak, obtrusive) smile.

 

7. After four years as the President’s secretary, I have become a noted (adept, exploit) in the art of fielding questions.

 

8. In Jonathan Swift’s fictional country of Lilliput, everyone and everything is pint-sized, or (diminutive, erroneous).

 

9. The visitor’s huge bulk, combined with his (extemporaneous, languid) manner, made me think of a tired whale.

 

10. Passengers could not exit the bus without tripping over the (invincible, obtrusive) package in the aisle.

 

11. When we tried to straighten out the mess, we found ourselves (mired, chided) in a mass of inaccurate, incomplete, and mixed-up records.

 

12. In the (slipshod, extemporaneous) give-and-take of a televised debate, it is easy for a nervous nominee to make a slip of the tongue.

 

13. I could see that the merchant’s long, sad story about bad luck was only the (adept, preamble) to a request for a loan.

 

14. I would never trust my funds to anyone who is so (bleak, slipshod) in managing his own affairs.

 

15. When Emerson said “Hitch your wagon to a star,” he meant that we should (aspire, mire) to reach the very highest levels of which we are capable.

 

16. Sergeant Alvin York was awarded this nation’s highest honor for his many daring (preambles, exploits) during World War I.

 

17. The sculptor has done a superb job of representing the strong, rough planes of Lincoln’s (languid, rugged) features.

 

18. It is up to all of us to (impair, emancipate) ourselves from prejudices and false ideas acquired early in life.

 

19. Our basketball team, with its well-planned attack, tight defense, and seven-foot center, proved all but (invincible, skeptical).

 

20. Far from admiring the way they got those letters of recommendation, I consider their deception utterly (diminutive, despicable).