alt="SD"/> defiant
If the tortoise is lumbering and slow on land, wouldn’t you expect it to be slow in water, too? The crocodile, for example, is fast and nimble in either environment (which can be bad news). In this sentence, however, the transition word though tells you that the tortoise’s speed and agility in water is a surprise. The words actual, according, defiant, and unequivocal (straightforward) don’t suggest any sort of surprise. The correct answers are Choices (A) and (E).
9. The speaker _____ the very point he had stood up to make and hurriedly sat down, hoping no one had caught his solecism.
A solecism is an inconsistency, such as a mistake. From the context of the sentence, you can gather that something negative happened because the speaker hoped no one had noticed it. Sounds like the speaker contradicted himself. Now review and eliminate wrong answers:
To prognosticate is to predict, which is out. Divulge, meaning to reveal, is also out. To ferret out is to search diligently, and you know what duplicate is, both of which don’t work, leaving refute (disprove) and counter (contradict), similar enough to produce sentences alike in meaning. The correct answers are Choices (C) and (D).
10. Dismayed by the _____ evidence available to her, the defense attorney spent her own money to hire a private investigator to acquire additional evidence.
Predict words to fit in the blanks. If the attorney is dismayed by the evidence and hires an investigator to get more evidence, she must not have had much evidence to begin with. Vestigial means functionless, immense means large, concrete, in this context, means irrefutable, and impartial means neutral, which has nothing to do with the amount of evidence.
What remain are scanty, meaning barely sufficient, and dearth of, meaning lack of, both of which match the meaning of the sentence and each other. So the correct answers are Choices (A) and (B).
11. Rather than be decadent, the actor adopted an _____ lifestyle to help him focus on the professional side of his work.
The actor could have adopted any kind of lifestyle, but look for a meaning that indicates the opposite of decadent. Anachronous describes something out of the proper time, as if Robin Hood had a flashlight. Avarice refers to greed, so that’s definitely out. Assiduous means hardworking, which may also describe the actor, but you need a word that’s the opposite of decadent. Abject means miserable or wretched, which may also be true, but it doesn’t fit the opposite of decadent.
Austere and ascetic both describe one who practices self-denial, so these surviving words match each other and fit the sentence. The correct answers are Choices (A) and (C).
12. A fearless countenance may only belie a(n) _____ affect.
