Sentence Completion 13 14

The----- of Maria Irene Fornes' play Mud—a realistic room perched on a dirt pile—challenges conventional interpretations of stage scenery.

• appeal

• plot

• mood

• setting

• rehearsal

Ironically, an affluent society that purchases much more food than it actually needs suffers because of that -----, since in conditions of affluence diseases relate to overeating and a poor nutrition seem to -----.

• lavishness… adapt

• overabundance…thrive

• corpulence…vex

• practicality…awaken

• commonness…abound

Because of the ----- effects of the hot springs, tourists suffering from various ailments flocked to the village's thermal pools.

• succulent

• redolent

• cerebral

• mandatory

• therapeutic

More valuable and comprehensive than any previously proposed theory of the phenomenon, Salarza's research has ------ the basis for all subsequent----- in their field.

• undermine… advancements

• prepared… debacles

• provided…investigations

• dissolved… experiments

• reinforced… misconceptions

Dangerously high winds ------ attempts to begin the space shuttle mission on schedule, delaying the launch by nearly a week.

• thwarted

• forfeited

• implemented

• discharged

• redoubled

The guest speaker on Oprah Winfrey's talk show offended the audience by first ------ them and then refuse to moderate these ------- remarks.

• flattering…commendable

• haranguing…intemperate

• praising… radical

• enraging… conciliatory

• accommodating… indulgent.

By the end of the long, arduous hike, Chris was walking with a ------- gait, limping slowly back to the campsite.

• halting

• robust

• constant

• prompt

• facile

Actors in melodramas often emphasized tense moments by being ------, for example, raising their voices and pretending to swoon.

• imperious

• inscrutable

• convivial

• histrionic

• solicitous

Soon after the first visitors arrived, increasing numbers of the residents of the remote island thought it possible that the outside world, instead of being -------, could be ------- and worth exploring.

• insular... unlimited

• friendly...wicked

• amiable...cooperative

• threatening...fascinating

• forbidding...harmful

Her dislike of ------ made her regard people who tried to win her approval through praise as -----.

• autocrats… dictators

• defiance… toadies

• tyrants… connoisseurs

• adulation… superiors

• flattery… sycophants