ACT English : Word Choice, Style, and Tone
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English
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Example Questions
Example Question #135 : Writing And Revising Effectively
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
Michelle was met with __________ for the first place award she received at the science fair.
criticism
reproach
admonishment
benevolence
adulation
adulation
The correct answer is "adulation," "Adulation" means praise, which Michelle likely received for such a high award.
Example Question #171 : Act English
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
The desert climate was __________.
exotic
fertile
lush
arid
humid
arid
The correct word choice is "arid," because "arid" means incredibly dry.
Example Question #136 : Writing And Revising Effectively
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
There was a strong sense of __________ among Sarah, Leslie and Rebecca. They have been friends since Kindergarten.
camaraderie
exuberance
acrimony
animosity
rancor
camaraderie
The correct answer is "camaraderie." This means a close sense of friendship, whereas the other word choices are all antonyms for camaraderie.
Example Question #51 : Word Choice, Style, And Tone
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
When the winner of the school elections was announce, a huge crowd of students __________ in the auditorium.
congregated
dispersed
interspersed
disseminated
propogated
congregated
The correct answer is "congregated," which means to gather in a large group. The other chocies generally mean to spread out, instead of come together.
Example Question #52 : Word Choice, Style, And Tone
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
Many people were frightened at the news of the __________ effects of the newly discovered virus.
deleterious
benign
antioxidant
salubrious
symbiotic
deleterious
The correct choice is "deleterious," because it suggests a harmful effect. Since the sentence says that people were frightened by the new virus, it can be assumed that the virus is harmful. The other word choices are antonyms for "deleterious."
Example Question #84 : Revising Content
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
After spending hours in the summer heat with nothing to drink, Joe felt extremely __________.
satiated
parched
requited
sated
contented
parched
The correct answer is "parched" because it is a synonym for "thirsty."
Example Question #53 : Word Choice, Style, And Tone
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
There was a strong __________ bond between Jake and Mark; many said the two were like brothers.
fraternal
antipodal
harmonious
paternal
congenial
fraternal
The correct choice is "fraternal." While some of the other choices describe a close bond, "fraternal" refers specifically to a brotherly bond.
Example Question #54 : Word Choice, Style, And Tone
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
The politician __________ his former statements about the new policy, after realizing that his original stance was unfavorable with voters.
affirmed
corroborated
recanted
sanctioned
justified
recanted
The correct choice is "recanted," because it means publically to take back a previous statement.
Example Question #56 : Word Choice, Style, And Tone
Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
The oil from the cupcake __________ its thin paper lining.
infiltrated
submerged
permeated
perforated
exposed
permeated
The correct choice is "permeated," because it means to leak through.
Example Question #176 : Act English
Adapted from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)
The ghost on hearing this set up another cry and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night that the police has been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.
"Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know that ages of incessant labor, by immortal creatures, for, this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed! Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness! Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused! Yet such was I. Oh, such was I."
"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob" faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
"Business!" cried the Ghost wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive position of my business!"
Which of the following could replace the underlined words "comprehensive position" while retaining the phrase's original meaning in context?
forest
responsibility
ocean
height
ocean
The metaphor being used by the speaker is the idea of a "drop of water" in a larger repository of water. Often, we speak of something being a mere "drop in the bucket." This is because the bucket is a larger repository of water in comparison with which the drop is not much at all. The only word that captures this metaphor is "ocean."
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