All ISEE Upper Level Verbal Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Style, Intensity, And Connotation In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The beautiful __________ painting, with its fluid and meandering lines, was a calming view for the patients in the waiting room.
mediocre
serene
arabesque
baroque
pastoral
arabesque
An “arabesque” style painting is one with flowing lines. The word does indeed mean Arab-like (-esque), for it was believed to be derived in the West from Arab styles of art (which under Islamic influence would have lacked pictorial representation). The actual sources for such art are more complex, related to earlier Greek and Roman forms of ornamentation.
Example Question #108 : Sentence Completion Questions
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The butler welcomed the guests from the door into a small __________, whence they would later be taken to the main dining room for the night’s gathering.
accommodation
guestroom
patio
antechamber
bedroom
antechamber
The people were brought into an entry room, which could be considered as the “fore-room” to the main meeting area. Such an area is called an “antechamber” because it comes before (=ante) the main chamber or room. The prefix “ante-” can be found in words like “anterior,” “antecedent,” and “antebellum;” (the last meaning before a / the war—often the American Civil War in our usage in the United States).
Example Question #101 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
In a sense, one could say that we have a __________ relationship with the bacteria that live in our digestive system. Just as those bacteria cannot live without the environment that we provide, we too would suffer a great loss if we lost the influence of their beneficial waste production.
useful
biological
friendly
beneficial
symbiotic
symbiotic
If two living things live together and (at least in a sense or to a degree) require each other for life, they have a “symbiotic” relationship. (It is possible to use the word merely to mean that they live in close proximity, though general usage often implies the advantageous nature of the relationship). The word comes from Greek roots. “Sym” (or “syn”) means together or “same” and is found in English words like “synonym,” “sympathy,” and “synagogue.” The “-biotic” portion comes from a root word meaning life, found in words like “biology,” “biopsy,” and “biography.”
Example Question #110 : Sentence Completion Questions
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The author’s well known and epic __________ was written over a period of eighteen years amid the terrors and displacements of the Second World War.
opus
novel
chronicle
poem
saga
opus
The word “opus” is directly derived from the Latin word for work, and while its English usage often implies a musical work, it can more broadly indicate any artistic work, particularly one that is very large and involved. The word “opus” in Latin has a forms containing the base “oper-”, found in English words like “opera” and “operate.”
Example Question #1 : Style, Intensity, And Connotation In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The editor would __________ each article, focusing on every word chosen by his writers, fearful that anything inappropriate would be published.
critique
review
scrutinize
assess
question
scrutinize
The key expression here is “focusing on every word . . .” This gives the sense of paying close attention to each word in the articles. The word “scrutinize” means to examine or inspect thoroughly, which captures this sense.
Example Question #1 : Style, Intensity, And Connotation In One Blank Sentences
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
After suffering countless defeats, the football team was utterly __________, to the point of no longer hoping for victories in the coming season.
stoical
dejected
despondent
resigned
sober
despondent
In contrast to the other words given as possible answers, being “despondent” implies lack of hope—not merely disappointment or emotional detachment. This is called for by the key phrase, “to the point of no longer hoping for . . .”
Example Question #71 : Sentence Completions
After three immersions in the supposedly blessed waters, the young cleric believed that he had finished the process of ritual __________ and was worthy before the holiness of the deity.
liturgy
bathing
sanctification
action
baptism
sanctification
The key word to note is “holiness;” therefore, while all of the other options are potentially applicable, only “sanctification” fits most closely. It means the process of being made holy. The “-fication” is a standard ending, meaning to do or to make and is likewise found in forms like “-fact-” (factor), “-fic-” (artificer), “-fect” (perfect), or even “-fy” (sanctify). The root “sanct-” comes from the Latin sanctus meaning “holy.”
Example Question #72 : Sentence Completions
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The long, low tones of the church bell __________ sounded over the valley, marking the passing of the city’s mourning on the occasion of the death of the well-beloved citizen.
openly
resoundingly
thunderously
broadly
plangently
plangently
Beyond noting the resounding of the bells, the word “plangently” likewise carries with it the sense of sadness. If someone is “plaintive,” he or she sounds as though mourning.
Example Question #111 : Isee Upper Level (Grades 9 12) Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Filbert would often intone the latest __________ that he had written for the worship at his monastery.
aria
canticle
incantation
song
epistle
canticle
Although the other “music-related” words perhaps are tempting, “canticle” is the best, given that it has particular associations with church music. It comes from a base that is similar to that found in “cantor” (singer, particularly leading a church service), “cantata,” and “incantation.” All of these words are variously related to the Latin “cantare,” meaning to sing.
Example Question #114 : Sentence Completion
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
When the first space telescope was developed, mankind was amazed by the __________ vision that it provided, far extending human vision beyond images of the closest astronomical bodies.
sidereal
extraterrestrial
celestial
extravant
heavenly
sidereal
For this problem, it is necessary to choose the one “odd man out” that is at least closest to the sense implied. Since the telescope is far extending the vision beyond closer bodies, the best option is that which captures more than merely “celestial” or standard “heavenly” bodies. The word “sidereal” means “pertaining to the ‘fixed’ (distant) stars” or even just “pertaining to constellations.”