All ISEE Upper Level Verbal Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #2511 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
INDIGENT
Aboriginal
National
Native
Impoverished
Exhume
Impoverished
The word “indigent” means “poor” or “needy.” Among the options, the only option that means this is clearly “impoverished. One might see this word used in a sentence like, “The long period of economic recession greatly increased the indigent population of the country, requiring many more to turn to charity in order to have enough to live.” Note that the word is not the same as “indigenous,” which means “native to a given locale.”
Example Question #2512 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
IMPOVERISHED
Beggar
Destitute
Laboring
Saddened
Overcome
Destitute
For this word, the answer is perhaps less known that the word itself. Clearly, the word “impoverished” contains a relative of the word “poverty.” The word “destitute” most properly means “lacking the means even to provide for basic needs.” It can likewise mean, more generally, “lacking,” particularly when used in conjunction with the preposition “of” as in “the students were destitute of any intellectual interest.”
Example Question #2513 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PROSPEROUS
Foreseeing
Predictive
Economical
Flourishing
Investing
Flourishing
When someone is “prosperous,” that person is said to “do well” for himself or himself. That is, he or she is accomplishing the tasks and goals that he or she has set. Often, such prosperity is indicated by an increase in material wealth. This is the sense in which the word is most often used, as in, “The banker was the most prosperous man in town, owning fifteen cars and two large houses.” In a more general sense, it can mean “flourishing,” which is related to “flowering,” here meaning “coming to full development” (like a plant coming to flower).
Example Question #2514 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
AVOWED
Admitted
Agreeing
Compatible
Separated
Divorced
Admitted
The word “avowed” actually is related to the word “advocate,” which means, “someone called as a witness.” The word is usually used in the context of noun, for instance “an avowed atheist,” or, “an avowed chocolate addict.” In such uses, the word means, “publically admitted.” For instance, to say, “I am an avowed chocolate addict,” is akin to saying, “I have publically admitted that I am an addict to chocolate and hide the fact from nobody.”
Example Question #2515 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
TENTATIVE
Deceitful
Fragrant
Fastidious
Hesitant
Immoderate
Hesitant
Often, the word “tentative” is used to describe a situation when someone is uncertain whether or not an event will take place. For example, one could say, “I will tentatively schedule our meeting for 2:00 PM. Call me to let me know if this will work.” Likewise, the word can be used to describe an action that is done hesitantly—perhaps because someone lacks confidence that the action is possible.
Example Question #2516 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
FARCICAL
Judgmental
Immature
Ridiculous
Inconsistent
Overwhelming
Ridiculous
A “farce” is a type of comedy in which chance events and foolishness play a significant part in the nature of the comedy presented. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe an event that is just as foolish as a play that is a farce. The word “ridiculous” comes from the Latin for “to laugh.” It means “laughable,” which relates well to the notion of being “farcical.”
Example Question #2517 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
OPULENT
Overachieving
Lavish
Aristocratic
Workable
Snobby
Lavish
Although we often might think of an “opulent lifestyle” as being “high class” or something of the like, strictly speaking, something that is opulent is wealthy or lavish in a showy manner. For instance, one could say, “The opulence of the theatre was amazing. With its gilded ceiling, crystal chandeliers, and silk curtains, it struck the viewer as being the very apogee of material splendor.”
Example Question #2518 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
DUAL
Fight
Singer
Binary
Argument
Gunslinger
Binary
Do not confuse this word with the word “duel,” which means “a fight between two people.” The words are related but not the same. “Dual” merely means “being two in number.” For instance, one can say that someone seems to have “dual personalities,” when they are (for instance) happy at one moment and then nasty and slanderous at another. The word “binary” means “two” and is related to the word “combination,” which means “the bringing together of two things.”
Example Question #2519 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
SHORN
Bordering
Obvious
Outward
Thin
Cut
Cut
The word “shorn” is the past form of “to shear,” which means “to cut off.” Often, it is used to describe the cutting off (“shearing”) of wool from sheep. It can also mean “to break off.”
Example Question #2520 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
AFFLUENT
Overachieving
Wealthy
Cultured
Graceful
Snobby
Wealthy
When someone is affluent, one could figuratively say that such a person “flows with wealth.” The word “affluent” originally was derived form the Latin for “to flow,” which is clearly detectable in the “-fluent” portion of the word. While such a person might be cultured, overachieving, or even snobby, the best description of “affluence” is the state of having wealth.
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