________________________________________________________________ VERBAL ABILITY PRACTICE TEST 3
VERBAL ABILITY
Questions: 50
Time: 30 minutes
Sentence Completion
Directions: Choose the word or set of words that makes the most sense when inserted into the sentence and that best fits the
meaning of the sentence as a whole.
1. Although they tried for the better part of an hour, 6. The law rescinding the old statute was written to be
the paramedics were unable to _______ the _______, so that those who were arrested before its
accident victim. enactment could be exculpated.
A. matriculate A. retroactive
B. inculcate B. expedient
C. rebuke C. winsome
D. resuscitate D. judicious
2. _______ the antique cabinet proved to be an 7. Rather than static monoliths, religious institutions
arduous task; it was covered in layers of dirt and are _____ collections of churches, responsive to
peeling paint. the fluctuating needs of the various communities in
A. Nullifying which they exist.
B. Depreciating A. prosaic
C. Subduing B. sporadic
D. Refurbishing C. pedantic
D. dynamic
3. There was some truth to what the critic said of the
production; the middling performance was not on 8. The defendant’s ______ driving caused him to lose
par with the _____ of the set design. his license, and earned him a stint in prison.
A. blandness A. nuptial
B. grandeur B. feckless
C. horror C. cautious
D. largesse D. tactile
4. Although the _____ implications of genetic 9. Although the meeting place was meant to be
research are hotly debated, most biologists _____ _______, it soon became known to many people.
its undeniable scientific importance. A. viable
A. moral...reject B. destitute
B. psychological...complicate C. morose
C. ethical...acknowledge D. clandestine
D. academic...compartmentalize
10. Thomas Paine’s 18th century pamphlet “Common
5. Many Americans reached the ______ of their Sense” was _____, using few words yet having a
financial conditions in the 1930’s during the Great forceful impact on its readers.
Depression, when one out of four was A. verbose
unemployed, and one out of ten homeless. B. pacific
A. egress C. laconic
B. nadir D. decent
C. monologue
D. bevy
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11. Although some animal rights activists support the 17. Although the finale of Rachmaninoff’s third piano
_______ of unadoptable pets as a humane concerto is often considered a concert pianist’s
alternative to life in a shelter, most consider the _____, Argerich breezed through it with the
practice to be nothing short of murder. aplomb of a lounge musician playing a beloved
A. concord _____.
B. hyperbole A. trial...reliquary
C. euthanasia B. tribulation...standard
D. euphoria C. encore...concerto
D. triumph...hymn
12. While the ______ that the last harvest brought may
seem beneficial at the moment, the glut in 18. Clergymen often undertake an oath to ______ all
storehouses will actually prove to have _______ earthly pleasures, and to maintain lives of poverty
economic consequences in the long run. and chastity.
A. tableau...damaging A. nurture
B. surplus...pallid B. foreswear
C. overabundance...negative C. transgress
D. fracas...ravenous D. lament
13. In a dazzling performance, Heifetz tossed off 19. The convict pleaded with the parole board for an
Paganini’s Caprice No. 24, usually a violinist’s early release, saying that he had become a kind and
_____, with the nonchalant zest of a country decent man and had ______ his former devious
fiddler breezing through one of his favorite ways.
______. A. renounced
A. quagmire...consorts B. rekindled
B. masterpiece...dances C. redacted
C. solace...symphonies D. rebated
D. bane...reels
20. A misanthrope would aver that one who _____
14. The director’s _______ arrival left the surprised expressions of gratitude, does so in hopes of being
employees scrambling to create an appearance of thanked twice.
productivity. A. revels in
A. motley B. doles out
B. unheralded C. brushes off
C. timorous D. boasts of
D. deft
21. Because of their vanished power, former Presidents
15. The diplomats had to follow the _______ that often feel quite ______ after leaving office.
forced them to bow or curtsey to foreign royalty. A. beatific
A. solarium B. desultory
B. wraith C. impotent
C. protocol D. rational
D. mannerism
22. The historian was able to prove that Mrs.
16. The teachers resented the ______ behavior of the Henderson’s ______ could not be traced back to
principal, who turned students and their parents Thomas Jefferson, as her progenitors had only
away from the school. immigrated to the United States in the early
A. consummate nineteenth century.
B. waspish A. lineage
C. judicious B. itinerary
D. audible C. probity
D. description
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23. Alex argued that the actor's tendency to _____ 25. The business ties between one of the litigants and
acclaim actually indicated a secret desire for more the presiding magistrate spawned bitter accusations
praise. of _____; the magistrate, however, contended that
A. court _____ did not necessarily ensue from commercial
B. pursue affiliation.
C. savor A. premeditation...impropriety
D. reject B. corruption...justice
C. foresight...inequity
24. Although the discovery that the plaintiff was her D. bias...partiality
nephew exposed the arbitrator to suspicions of lack
of _____, the arbitrator insisted that kinship did not
inevitably entail ____.
A. objectivity...bias
B. impartiality...familiarity
C. circumspection...disinterest
D. jurisprudence…recklessness
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Analogies
Directions: Choose the word that best completes the analogy in capital letters.
1. HARBOR : SHIP :: PARKING LOT : 7. STAR : STELLAR :: EARTH :
A. automobile A. spherical
B. driver B. orbital
C. attendant C. comet
D. mechanic D. terrestrial
2. FLEDGLING : BIRD :: CATERPILLAR : 8. DOCTOR : HOSPITAL :: TEACHER :
A. wren A. corridor
B. spider B. school
C. insect C. subject
D. butterfly D. history
3. ADMIRE : IDOLIZE :: SAVE : 9. PENITENT : REPENTANT :: REVELER :
A. sadden A. merry
B. reward B. tired
C. adore C. praiseworthy
D. hoard D. harsh
4. ILLNESS : MEASLES :: BIRD : 10. ZOOLOGY : ANIMALS :: BOTANY :
A. sparrow A. birds
B. creature B. plants
C. mammal C. fish
D. meal D. minerals
5. IMPERCEPTIBLE : DETECT :: INCONCEIVABLE : 11. HOOF : HORSE :: PAW :
A. begin A. mane
B. imagine B. cat
C. seize C. foot
D. replace D. prairie
6. ANNOYED : ENRAGED :: PLEASED : 12. WRITER : NOVELIST :: SCIENTIST :
A. overjoyed A. astronomer
B. necessary B. student
C. attentive C. nurse
D. rude D. poet
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
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________________________________________________________________ VERBAL ABILITY PRACTICE TEST 3
13. UNSAVORY : DISGUSTING :: PAINFUL : 20. LETTER : POSTSCRIPT :: BUILDING :
A. pleasing A. book
B. agonizing B. envelope
C. distressing C. plant
D. soothing D. addition
14. INVULNERABLE : ENEMY :: IMPREGNABLE: 21. TAILOR : SCISSORS :: BLACKSMITH :
A. fortress A. dress
B. recruit B. wood
C. wound C. hammer
D. cannon D. saw
15. CALM : TRANQUILITY :: SAD : 22. TARNISH : SILVER :: RUST :
A. trouble A. glass
B. sickness B. car
C. traffic C. iron
D. melancholy D. wax
16. ARROGANT : HUMILITY :: RECKLESS : 23. MONOLOGUE : PLAY :: SOLO :
A. caution A. debate
B. tension B. speech
C. haughtiness C. conversation
D. boldness D. opera
17. BUOYANT : FLOAT :: ELASTIC : 24. ABRIDGE : SHORTEN :: EXPAND :
A. stretch A. enlarge
B. distort B. breathe
C. elongate C. run
D. eliminate D. tell
18. MARE : HORSE :: EWE : 25. PHILANTHROPIST : GENEROSITY ::
A. dog SWINDLER :
B. fish A. pedantry
C. snake B. dishonesty
D. sheep C. intelligence
D. tenacity
19. SKUNK : SCENT :: PORCUPINE :
A. cat
B. quill
C. animal
D. odor
STOP! END OF SECTION
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________________________________________________________________ VERBAL ABILITY PRACTICE TEST 3
CORRECT ANSWERS
Sentence Completion
1. D 6. A 11. C 16. B 21. C
2. D 7. D 12. C 17. B 22. A
3. B 8. B 13. D 18. B 23. C
4. C 9. D 14. B 19. A 24. A
5. B 10. C 15. C 20. C 25. D
Analogies
1. A 6. A 11. B 16. A 21. C
2. D 7. D 12. A 17. A 22. C
3. D 8. B 13. B 18. D 23. D
4. A 9. A 14. A 19. B 24. A
5. B 10. B 15. D 20. D 25. B
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