ISEE Upper Level Verbal : Parts of Speech in One-Blank Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ISEE Upper Level Verbal

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Example Questions

Example Question #530 : One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The __________ movement of the early twentieth century was primarily concerned with ensuring women had the right to vote. 

Possible Answers:

sycophant 

deferential 

extenuating 

exemplary 

suffrage 

Correct answer:

suffrage 

Explanation:

To solve this sentence completion problem you have to determine which of these answer choices describes a movement related to "the right to vote." The correct answer is "suffrage." "Suffrage" as a noun means the right to vote. To provide further help, "deferential" means respectful, allowing someone else to be in control; a "sycophant" is a flatterer; "exemplary" means very well done, done so well as to be used as a model for others; "extenuating" means excusing circumstances

Example Question #361 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

After her son died in a car crash the mother made it her personal __________ to fight back against drinking and driving.

Possible Answers:

obstacle

artifice

crucible

crusade

shard

Correct answer:

crusade

Explanation:

A "crusade" is a prolonged and passionate struggle for something. To provide further help, an "obstacle" is something that gets in the way; an "artifice" is a ruse, a piece of trickery; "shard" means fragment of something; a "crucible" is a trial.

Example Question #362 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Frank is a __________; he can speak German, Spanish, English, French, and Mandarin.

Possible Answers:

carcinogen 

carrion 

pugilist 

polyglot 

polytheist 

Correct answer:

polyglot 

Explanation:

A "polyglot" is someone who can speak multiple languages. The prefix poly- means many. So, to provide another example, a "polytheist" is someone who believes in more than one God. Additionally, "carrion" is decaying flesh; a "carcinogen" is something known to cause cancer; a "pugilist" is a boxer, a fighter

Example Question #363 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The performer had a certain __________ that he injected into his routine in order to garner a pitying reaction from the audience.

Possible Answers:

innuendo

pathos

adage

sinecure

panegyric

Correct answer:

pathos

Explanation:

To solve this problem you need to determine which of these words means a quality that evokes pity in another. The correct answer is therefore "pathos." "Pathos" means a quality that evokes pity or sadness in another person. To provide further help, an "adage" is an old saying; a "sinecure" is an easy job; "innuendo" is any kind of crude or vulgar remark or pun; a "panegyric" is a public speech of praise

Example Question #364 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The buzzards and vultures flocked to consume the __________.

Possible Answers:

tenet

ingress

carrion

commode

sojourn

Correct answer:

carrion

Explanation:

Buzzards and vultures are two birds that are famous for consuming the flesh of dead animals. The correct answer is therefore "carrion." "Carrion" is the flesh or body of a dead animal. To provide further help, "ingress" means entrance; "tenet" means fundamental belief within a belief system; a "commode" is a room, often a bathroom; "sojourn" means temporary respite.

Example Question #365 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

His conservative political __________ were widely disparaged in the largely liberal community he lived in. 

Possible Answers:

insurrections

affiliations

nuclei

digressions

scruples

Correct answer:

affiliations

Explanation:

In a liberal community it is logical that someone with an association with conservatism would be widely mocked. So, to solve this problem you are looking for the answer choice that is similar in meaning to "association." The correct answer is therefore "affiliations." To provide further help, "scruples" are small concerns with something; a "digression" is a deviation, a temporary distraction from the primary purpose of an argument; "nuclei" is the plural form of "nucleus" which means center; "insurrections" are rebellions.

Example Question #366 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Animals that can thrive on land or in water are usually called __________.

Possible Answers:

vertebrates

amphibians

mammals

reptiles

mollusks

Correct answer:

amphibians

Explanation:

The prefix ambi- means both and this is very similar to the beginning of the word "amphibian." An "amphibian" is an animal that can live on land or in water, such as a frog. To provide further help, a "mollusk" is an animal without a backbone, with a soft body, and generally an outer-shell. Examples of "mollusks" include snails and octopi. A "vertebrate" is an animal with a backbone

Example Question #367 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Fill in the blank:

It is often said that modernity led to a ___________ of the world, removing much of the wonder that was once experienced by the masses and replacing it with the bleak atmosphere of mathematical physics.

Possible Answers:

disenchanting

convolution

depression

divinizing

destruction

Correct answer:

disenchanting

Explanation:

The key to this question is the participial phrase "removing much of the wonder." The implication is that modernity made the world appear "bleak" like equations of physics. By stripping it of its wonder, it made it quite plain and without poetic meaning—at least the sentence claims this. This is not necessarily to destroy the world, and it does not make much sense to say that it depressed the world. (Perhaps it depressed the people.) The word "disenchanted" (or "disenchantment") can be used merely to describe a person who has become disillusioned or has lost interests. It can also describe, in an extended sense, the thing that was disenchanted—the world, which had lost its appearance of being wonderful.

Example Question #368 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The manager warned that every error must be fixed immediately, for once an irregularity entered the system, it would __________ a number of additional ones within minutes.

Possible Answers:

undertake

overwhelm

inquire

vex

generate

Correct answer:

generate

Explanation:

The sentence implies that once an irregularity enters the system, more would be created very quickly thereafter. The only synonym that we have for the notion of "create" is "generate." This word—which is related to "generations" and "genus"—means to produce or cause. It is related to earlier Latin usages that were particularly used by philosophers to discuss how things come to be and are destroyed—which they called "generation and corruption." We speak of "generations" in a family because we number them according to how they were "created." The grandparents were one generation; they generated the next generation (parents), and so forth.

Example Question #369 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Sentences

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Extremely difficult topics require teachers to __________ concepts with creative examples in order to make the topics more concrete.

Possible Answers:

delineate

unravel

confound

exculpate

illustrate

Correct answer:

illustrate

Explanation:

The key phrases for this sentence is “with creative examples” and “to make the topics more concrete.” Although one could “unravel” complex topics into simpler ones, such “unraveling” does not necessarily involve creative examples (though it may accidentally contain them). Likewise, clear delineation of topics may provide some clarity, but that does not necessarily indicate the use of creative examples. However, “to illustrate” a topic means to explain it with examples. The word comes from the Latin for to illuminate. Something with “luster” has a glow—it shines (like a good example).

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