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SENTENCE EQUIVALENCE DRILL

1. Sohrab was extremely ----------------, and did not enjoy activities that required effort to meet new people. A. Extroverted B. Outgoing C. Introverted D. Jaded E. Withdrawn F. Gregarious 2. The recent convert, still a ---------------- with respect to the rites of her church, did not yet feel completely comfortable in her new faith. A. pilgrim B. iconoclast C. rookie D. ascetic E. tyro F. poseur 3. Huckleberry Finn was one of the first major American novels to be written in a ----------style, using the voice of the common person describing events A. erudite B. reticent C. colloquial D. urbane E. quotidian F. quixotic 4. Lindsay, cognizant of the effects of second hand smoke but hesitant to inconvenience guests, ------------. As she was unsure whether to ask people to smoke outside during the party A. dissembled B. vacillated C. procrastinated D. disparaged E. concurred F. Equivocated

5. Because he ate high calorie snacks while riding the exercise bike, Julie ridiculed DeRays workout philosophy as ---------------------A. fatuous B. pithy C. indolent D. succinct E. insensible F. Precarious. 6. While any bird egg will suffice for the tradition of egg decorating, those with _________ shells are preferred, so as to prevent breaking when their contents are hollowed A. tenuous B. hardened C. permeable D. pristine E. resilient F. obtuse 7. With the similar contrast between a partly cloudy sky and a dark street, the cover of the recent rock CD __________ a famous surrealist painting from the early 1900 's A. admires B. obfuscates C. is reminiscent of D. disenchants E. sanctions F. evokes 8. Though many _________ endlessly praised his work, Dan often wished for some honest criticism. A. mavericks B. opponents C. sycophants D. pedants E. adversaries F. fawners

9. The mayor was so ________ by the long trial that, despite his eventual acquittal, he admitted his failing health and declined to run for re- election A. inspired B. charged C. debilitated D. vindicated E. distraught F. enfeebled 10. The artist who specialized in _______ scenes, eagerly sat down to paint his favorite landscape - a peaceful pasture filled with hills and valleys A. halcyon B. perennial C. bucolic D. eclectic E. quiescent F. rustic 11. The --------------group in the adjoining room made it difficult for students taking the midterm examination. A. obstreperous B. quiescent C. raucous D. antagonistic E. rapacious F. clamorous 12. Ancient generals, lacking modern technologies such as radio and satellite communication, often found that one of the most significant challenges in warfare was accurate ----------------of the myriad of changes on the battlefield or in the campaign. A. fortification B. adulteration C. appraisal D. accretion E. assessment F. calculation

13. Most fans dismissed the press release detailing the comedians ill health as a hoax, as she had frequently-------her audience by feigning a physical ailment as part of her stage routine. A. B. C. D. E. F. lambasted derided hoodwinked alarmed mislead reconnoitered

14. Carey and Skylars constant bickering dismayed their mother, who had grown weary of their-----------A. squabbles B. laudations C. affectations D. procrastinations E. spat F. humor

15. The prize competition was ____ as a showcase for new technology, but instead the competition was marred by disqualifications and disputes. A. B. C. D. E. F. disappointing conceived touted heralded provisioning required

16. The new institute provides intensive postgraduate teaching to a wide range of students, in the hope that these students will use their knowledge to boost the country's ____ economy. A. languishing B. emerging C. booming

D. domestic E. bankrupt F. flagging 17. Like other metaphors, the "book of Nature" has two facets: it is ____ but if taken literally, it may mislead. A. B. C. D. E. F. heuristic perceptive poetic insightful prosaic iconoclastic

18. The increasing interactivity emerging in the latest computer systems means that the traditional view of the computer as a ____ of information now unduly limiting. A. B. C. D. E. F. gleaner transformer processor producer repository cache

19. Turings life exerts a powerful and ____ effect on writers the combination of the highly intellectual and the personally dramatic is hard to resist. A. B. C. D. E. F. abiding pervasive indomitable irresistible unmitigated multifaceted

20. As a result of his regimented upbringing, that left him unable to see the nuances of complex situations, he was often accused of being ____. A. B. C. D. E. F. indecisive tyrannical obtuse boorish xenophobic imperceptive

21. It is paradoxical that String Theory inspires such widespread respect when it is so ____ that few could ever hope to master its claims. A. B. C. D. E. F. intractable confusing elevated arcane obscure rigorous

22. Those with a reputation for ____ behavior seldom inspire respect: unwavering adherence to a viewpoint is more admired than flexibility. A. B. C. D. E. F. capricious bombastic dogmatic fickle honorable stalwart

23. The courtiers of the time had to be ____ in order to survive in an atmosphere where the least sign of rebellion could lead to banishment or worse. A. B. C. D. E. F. taciturn fawning docile self-serving upright servile

24. It is a waste of time to ____ someone so dimwitted; he is too dull to recognize your barbs. A. B. C. D. E. F. disparage ridicule lampoon laud enlighten train

25. The teacher was so abstracted that she gave a ____ evaluation of what was really an interesting solution to the problem she had set. A. philosophical

B. C. D. E. F.

cursory detailed considered perfunctory tangential

READING COMPREHENSION
Jazz, from its early roots in slave spirituals and the marching bands of New Orleans, had developed into the predominant American musical style by the 1930s. In this era, jazz musicians played a lush, orchestrated style known as swing. Played in large ensembles, also called big bands, swing filled the dance halls and nightclubs. Jazz, once considered risqu, was made more accessible to the masses with the vibrant, swinging sounds of these big bands. Then came bebop. In the mid-1940s, jazz musicians strayed from the swing style and developed a more improvisational method of playing known as bebop. Jazz was transformed from popular music to an elite art form. The soloists in the big bands improvised from the melody. The young musicians, who ushered in bebop, notably trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, expanded on the improvisational elements of the big bands. They played with advanced harmonies, changed chord structures, and made chord substitutions. These young musicians got their starts with the leading big bands of the day, but during World War IIas older musicians were drafted and dance halls made cutbacksthey started to play together in smaller groups. These pared-down bands helped foster the bebop style. Rhythm is the distinguishing feature of bebop, and in small groups the drums became more prominent. Setting a driving beat, the drummer interacted with the bass, piano, and the soloists, and together the musicians created fast, complex melodies. Jazz aficionados flocked to such clubs as Mintons Playhouse in Harlem to soak in the new style. For the young musicians and their fans this was a thrilling turning point in jazz history. However, for the majority of Americans, who just wanted some swinging music to dance to, the advent of bebop was the end of jazz as mainstream music. 1. The swing style can be most accurately characterized as A. complex and inaccessible. B. appealing to an elite audience. C. lively and melodic.

D. lacking in improvisation. E. played in small groups. 2. According to the passage, in the 1940s you would most likely find bebop being played where? A. church B. a large concert hall C. in music schools D. small clubs E. parades 3. Select the sentence from the passage which suggests that one of the most significant innovations of the bebop musicians was their emphasis on rhythm 4. In the context of this passage, aficionados (line 23) can most accurately be described as A. fans of bebop. B. residents of Harlem. C. innovative musicians. D. awkward dancers. E. fickle audience members. 5. The main purpose of the passage is to A. mourn the passing of an era. B. condemn bebop for making jazz inaccessible. C. explain the development of the bebop style. D. celebrate the end of the conventional swing style of jazz. E. instruct in the method of playing bebop.

The history of microbiology begins with a Dutch haberdasher named Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, a man of no formal scientific education. In the late 1600s, Leeuwenhoek, inspired by the magnifying lenses used by drapers to examine cloth, assembled some of the first microscopes. He developed a technique for grinding and polishing tiny, convex lenses, some of which could magnify an object up to 270 times. After scraping some plaque from between his teeth and examining it under a lens, Leeuwenhoek found tiny squirming creatures, which he called animalcules. His observations, which he reported to the Royal Society of London, are among the first descriptions of living bacteria.

Leeuwenhoek discovered an entire universe invisible to the naked eye. He found more animalculesprotozoa and bacteriain samples of pond water, rain water, and human saliva. He gave the first description of red corpuscles, observed plant tissue, examined muscle, and investigated the life cycle of insects. Nearly two hundred years later, Leeuwenhoeks discovery of microbes aided French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur to develop his germ theory of disease. This concept suggested that disease derives from tiny organisms attacking and weakening the body. The germ theory later helped doctors to fight infectious diseases including anthrax, diphtheria, polio, smallpox, tetanus, and typhoid. Leeuwenhoek did not foresee this legacy. In a 1716 letter, he described his contribution to science this way: My work, which Ive done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a craving after knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And therewithal, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious people might be informed thereof. 1. Select two sentences from the passage which suggest that Leeuwenhoek was inquisitive amateur who made pioneer studies of microbes.

2. n line 3, inspired most nearly means A. introduced. B. invested. C. influenced. D. indulged. E. inclined.

3. The quotation from Leeuwenhoek (lines 2328) is used to illustrate

A. B. C. D. E.

the value he placed on sharing knowledge among scientists. that scientific discoveries often go unrecognized. that much important research is spurred by professional ambition. the serendipity of scientific progress. the importance of Leeuwenhoeks discoveries in fighting infectious diseases.

4. The authors attitude toward Leeuwenhoeks contribution to medicine is one of A. ecstatic reverence. B. genuine admiration. C. tepid approval.

D. courteous opposition. E. antagonistic incredulity. There are two theories that have often been used to explain ancient and modern tragedy. Neither quite explains the complexity of the tragic process or the tragic hero, but each explains important elements of tragedy, and, because their conclusions are contradictory, they represent extreme views. The first theory states that all tragedy exhibits the workings of external fate. Of course, the overwhelming majority of tragedies do leave us with a sense of the supremacy of impersonal power and of the limitation of human effort. But this theory of tragedy is an oversimplification, primarily because it confuses the tragic condition with the tragic process: the theory does not acknowledge that fate, in a tragedy, normally becomes external to the hero only after the tragic process has been set in motion. Fate, as conceived in ancient Greek. tragedy is the internal balancing condition of life. It appears as external only after it has been violated, just as justice is an internal quality of an honest person, but the external antagonist of the criminal. Secondarily, this theory of tragedy does not distinguish tragedy from irony. Irony does not need an exceptional central figure: as a rule, the more ignoble the hero the sharper the irony, when irony alone is the objective. It is heroism that creates the splendor and exhilaration that is unique to tragedy. The tragic hero normally has an extraordinary, often a nearly divine, destiny almost within grasp, and the glory of the original destiny never quite fades out of the tragedy. The second theory of tragedy states that the act that sets the tragic process in motion must be primarily a violation of normal law, whether human or divine; in short, that the tragic hero must have a flaw that has an essential connection with sin. Again it is true that the great majority of tragic heroes do possess hubris, or a proud and passionate mind that seems to make the heros downfall morally explicable. But such hubris is only the precipitating agent of catastrophe, just as in comedy the cause) f the happy ending is usually some act of humility often performed by a noble character who is meanly disguised. This theory of tragedy as morally explicable runs into the question of whether an innocent sufferer in a tragedy, such as Iphigenia, or Socrates in Plato Apology, is a tragic figure. They are, of course, even though it is not very easy to find crucial moral flaws in them. in King Lear, Cordelia shows sincerity and high spirit in refusing to flatter her father, and eventually she is hanged. Tragedy, in short, is ambiguous and cannot be reduced to the opposition between human effort and external fate, just as it cannot be reduced to the opposition between good and evil. 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to A. compare and criticize two theories of tragedy. B. develop a new theory of tragedy. C. summarize the thematic content of tragedy.

D. reject one theory of tragedy and offer another theory in its place E. distinguish between tragedy and iron 2. The author states that the theories discussed in the passage represent extreme views because their conclusions are A. unpopular B. complex C. paradoxical D. contradictory E. imaginative 3. Which of the following comparisons of the tragic with the ironic hero is best supported by information contained in the passage A. A tragic heros fate is an external condition, but an ironic heros fate is an internal on B. A tragic hero must be controlled by fate, but an ironic hero cannot be C. A tragic heros moral flaw surprises the, audience, but an ironic heros sin does not D. A tragic hero and an ironic hero cannot both be virtuous figures in the same tragedy E. A tragic hero is usually extraordinary, but an ironic hero may be cowardly or even villainous. 4. The author contrasts an honest person and a criminal primarily in order to A. prove that fate cannot be external to the tragic hero B. establish a criterion that allows a distinction to be made between irony and tragedy C. develop the distinction between the tragic condition and the tragic process D. introduce the concept of sin as the cause of tragic action E. argue that the theme of omnipotent external fate is shared by comedy and tragedy. 5. According to the. author, Cordellia is an example of a figure who A. transcended both the laws of fate and the laws of society. B. sinned, but whose sin did not set the tragic process in motion. C. disobeyed a moral law, but was not punished for doing so. D. submitted willingly to fate, even though her submission caused her death. E. did not set the tragic process in motion, but is still a tragic figure. 6. In the authors opinion, an act of humility in comedy is most analogous to A. a catastrophe in tragedy. B. an ironic action in tragedy. C. a tragic heros pride and passion D. a tragic heros aversion to sin E. a tragic heros pursuit of an unusual destiny.

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