Proustian : succinct Antonyms Instructions: In each of the following questions, you will be presented with a capitalized word followed by five answer choices lettered a—e.. Select the an
Trang 119 PAPER : ORIGAMI
a china : fragile
b syllabus : opus
c licorice : fennel
d lotion : emollient
e osier : baskets
20 MACHIAVELLIAN : DUPLICITOUS
a Faustian : pleasant
b Orwellian : intrusive
c Dickensian : palling
d Emersonian : dispiriting
e Proustian : succinct
Antonyms
Instructions: In each of the following questions, you will be presented with a capitalized word followed by
five answer choices lettered a—e Select the answer word or phrase that has a meaning most nearly opposite to
the initial word
Some of these questions will require you to discriminate among closely related word choices Be sure you choose the answer that is most nearly opposed to the capitalized word
1 AMBIVALENT :
a insecure
b inconstant
c positive
d cheerful
e insatiable
2 CATASTROPHIC :
a bold
b pleasurable
c salubrious
d nihilistic
e beneficial
3 PALATIAL :
a chintzy
b feudal
c democratic
d decorous
e subterranean
4 OMNISCIENT :
a resonant
b mutable
c ignorant
d superstitious
e phlegmatic
5 CAPITULATE :
a embolden
b simplify
c assuage
d persevere
e postulate
6 INDEMNIFY :
a call for assistance
b put at risk
c cause to collapse
d resist attack
e protect from harm
Trang 27 PALLIATE :
a accumulate
b exaggerate
c aggravate
d extirpate
e misconstrue
8 SYCOPHANTIC :
a flattering
b empathetic
c self-serving
d self-sufficient
e selfless
9 OUST :
a veer
b ensconce
c pacify
d purge
e enslave
10 ANOMALOUS :
a abnormal
b confident
c reserved
d ordinary
e careless
11 BRUSQUE :
a courteous
b diffident
c rancorous
d jaunty
e timely
12 AUDACIOUS :
a defiant
b daring
c timid
d simple
e possible
13 PALPABLE :
a without substance
b in lieu of
c easily deceived
d not forceful
e damaging
14 STAID :
a serious
b weak
c climactic
d solipsistic
e frivolous
15 LOQUACIOUS :
a meddlesome
b productive
c vivacious
d taciturn
e piddling
16 PROTRACTED :
a abridged
b circumvented
c excessive
d tangential
e monumental
17 OBLIQUE :
a hearty
b direct
c careful
d superlative
e insightful
18 DOLOROUS :
a passive
b fickle
c cheerful
d sincere
e incredulous
1 2 6
Trang 319 MUTABLE :
a fatuous
b confusing
c changeable
d elemental
e constant
20 SUPERFLUOUS :
a insouciant
b genteel
c essential
d obtuse
e undeserved
Sentence Completion
Instructions: Each of the following sentences contains either one or two blanks Below each question are answer choices lettered a—e Select the lettered choice that best completes the sentence, bearing in mind its
intended meaning
1 Chemical fingerprints of space debris that has
impacted the moon are similar to those found
in meteorites that have struck the earth,
prov-ing that and
impacts derived from analogous sources
a common…extraordinary
b lunar…terrestrial
c possibility…intergalactic
d dangerous…simultaneous
e interstellar…other
2 The truth is the truth; neither childish
absurdi-ties, nor contradictions, can
make it otherwise
a unscrupulous
b true
c possible
d certain
e unseemly
3 Humans are necessarily social creatures, for
whom is a matter of survival;
however, as discrete entities, we often keenly
experience yearnings for solitude
a sustenance
b entertainment
c alienation
d encouragement
e collectivity
4 The wayfarer, with no companion but his staff,
paused to exchange a word with the innkeeper, that the sense of might not utterly overwhelm him before he could reach the first house in the valley
a fatigue
b rancor
c insufficiency
d loneliness
e miscalculation
5 In the twentieth century, artists found
them-selves unshackled from the necessity to faith-fully reproduce appearances; and they used their liberation to develop a purely
_ purpose in their _
a transparent…assertions
b commercial…idolatry
c aesthetic…oeuvres
d benign…portfolios
e casual…attire
Trang 46 One theory of ancient human migration
patterns holds that originated
in Africa more than 100,000 years ago and
from thence the remainder of
the world
a music…enchanted
b culture…freed
c savannahs…dotted
d glaciers…covered
e Homo sapiens…colonized
7 To the writings of the alchemists were almost
certainly added spurious elements, which
compounded the difficulty of deciphering the
from the in an
already disconcerting amalgam of fact and
allegory
a genuine…apocryphal
b gold…silver
c Latin…Greek
d witchcraft…wizardry
e wheat…chaff
8 It is no wonder that insect displays are very
popular at zoological parks worldwide;
make up over 90% of all
on Earth
a ants…insects
b zoos…museums
c arthropods…animals
d administrators…bureaucrats
e curators…people
9 Artistic expression is highly culture-specific;
that is to say, the forms art takes and the functions it performs vary radically according
to the location and of the artist
a original…temperament
b geographic…ethnicity
c local…desires
d temperate…predilections
e possible…opportunities
10 The Industrial Revolution greatly improved
physical living conditions for many European inhabitants; however, it also initially fomented working conditions and human rights transgressions such as labor
a radical…intensive
b insufficient…malicious
c luxurious…inimical
d unsafe…child
e regressive…hard
11 In literature, a literal image is one that is
unambiguously to sensory per-ception, but a image is subject
to wide-ranging interpretation
a apparent…figurative
b open…closer
c subject…possible
d interpretive…retractable
e closed…amorphous
1 2 8
Trang 512 Voltaire espoused the philosophy that an
enlightened monarch would rule with
benevo-lence; such a ruler, he believed, would promote
in order to the
rights of the populace
a communication…clarify
b nutrition…purify
c conservation…countermand
d iniquity…evince
e reforms…enhance
13 Technical shortcomings hindered the advent of
polyphonic music until the Renaissance era,
when arrangements became
increasingly common
a popular
b romantic
c complex
d string
e electronic
14 Metacognition is the term for what, why, and
how we know what we know; in other words, it
is about
a much ado…nothing
b thinking…thinking
c potentially…knowledge
d convincing…explanation
e presumably…research
15 Science education can be greatly enhanced by
the use of interactive videodisc technology; it
can be a tremendous to see a
scientific principle in action, rather than
merely to read about it
a advantage
b challenge
c tedium
d calamity
e perception
16 Rarely do we arrive at the summit of truth
without running into extremes; in fact, we have frequently to exhaust the part of , and even of , before we work our way up to the noble goal of tranquil wisdom
a yoga…tai chi
b opulence…complacency
c parcel…obedience
d error…folly
e ourselves…others
17 Any grand quest commences with the blind,
intuitive calculation that, against all odds, the seeker will inevitably
a overreach
b commiserate
c triumph
d dominate
e participate
18 Examining the means by which traditional
societies living in large groups keep all mem-bers supplied with food provides illuminating contrast between the objective material condi-tions of life and the culture bearers’
of those
a enchantment…groups
b perceptions…conditions
c scrutiny…societies
d contemplation…proofs
e illustrations…objects
Trang 619 Let it be remembered that this plan is neither
recommended to blind approbation, nor to
blind , but to a sedate and
can-did consideration
a idiosyncrasy
b pathology
c appeasement
d uniformity
e reprobation
20 Speak not but what may benefit others or
yourself; avoid conversation
a trifling
b assertive
c laudable
d dormant
e implausible
1 3 0
Reading Comprehension
Instructions: Read the passages that follow After each passage, answer the content-based questions
about it Each question must be answered using only the information that is either implied or stated
in the passage
Laughter appears to stand in need of an echo Listen to it carefully: It is not an articulate, clear, well-defined sound; it is something which would fain be prolonged by reverberating from one to another, something beginning with a crash, to continue in successive rumblings, like thunder in
a mountain Still, this reverberation cannot go on forever It can travel within as wide a circle as you please: The circle remains, nonetheless, a closed one Our laughter is always the laughter of a group It may, perchance, have happened to you, when seated in a railway carriage or at table d’hote, to hear travelers relating to one another’s stories which must have been comic to them, for they laughed heartily Had you been one of their company, you would have laughed like them; but,
as you were not, you had no desire whatsoever to do so A man who was once asked why he did not weep at a sermon, when everybody else was shedding tears, replied: “I don’t belong to the parish!” What that man thought of tears would be still more true of laughter However sponta-neous it seems, laughter always implies a kind of secret freemasonry, or even complicity, with other laughers, real or imaginary How often has it been said that the fuller the theater, the more uncon-trolled the laughter of the audience! On the other hand, how often has the remark been made that many comic effects are incapable of translation from one language to another, because they refer
to the customs and ideas of a particular social group! It is through not understanding the impor-tance of this double fact that the comic has been looked upon as a mere curiosity in which the mind finds amusement, and laughter itself as a strange, isolated phenomenon, without any bear-ing on the rest of human activity Hence those definitions that tend to make the comic into an abstract relation between ideas: “an intellectual contrast,”“a palpable absurdity,” etc.,—definitions that, even were they really suitable to every form of the comic, would not in the least explain why the comic makes us laugh How, indeed, should it come about that this particular logical relation,
as soon as it is perceived, contracts, expands, and shakes our limbs, while all other relations leave the body unaffected? It is not from this point of view that we shall approach the problem To
(5)
(10)
(15)
(20)