While many find the writings of early feminist writers such as Mary Woolstonecraft to be enlightening and still relevant, others find their writings ____.
(A) archaic
(B) inane
(C) idiosyncratic
(D) antediluvian
(E) illuminative
(F) edifying
Judith feigned a forgotten wallet to evade paying for dinner, proving she had surpassed frugality and become ____.
(A) jejune
(B) parsimonious
(C) prudent
(D) penitent
(E) economical
(F) miserly
Bradford’s many notorious trysts with various supermodels have earned him a reputation as a ____.
(A) libertine
(B) philanthropist
(C) marionette
(D) lecher
(E) patriarch
(F) puritan
Existential philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche are known for focusing on the subjective aspects of life rather than the ____.
(A) obscure
(B) personal
(C) disingenuous
(D) dispassionate
(E) illusory
(F) unbiased
While others label her seemingly “carpe diem” attitude as carefree blithesomeness, I suspect it is mere ____.
(A) fatuity
(B) frivolity
(C) ingenuity
(D) falsetto
(E) imbecility
(F) cunning
Being a stay-at-home mother requires more ____ than career-driven women often concede; indeed, it involves endlessly enduring children’s tantrums and mutinies.
(A) forbearance
(B) fidelity
(C) clout
(D) fortitude
(E) retribution
(F) fecklessness
The functional aspects of biodiversity are broad and vague and thus require further ____ to become more scientifically valuable.
(A) stratagem
(B) validation
(C) negation
(D) substantiation
(E) abrogation
(F) talion
Monks may be Christian, Buddhist, or Jain, but, though they differ in many beliefs, most orders are alike in practicing ____; they abjure carnal pleasures in pursuit of a life more conducive to spiritual enlightenment.
(A) debauchery
(B) lenience
(C) asceticism
(D) desuetude
(E) peregrination
(F) abstinence
Sam’s pyromaniac younger brother had a habit of singeing the tips of his hair; the unpleasant result was a ____ smell that permeated the house.
(A) querulous
(B) banal
(C) pithy
(D) acrid
(E) pungent
(F) dull
Listening to the dulcet crooning of famous American singer Frank Sinatra, one would never suspect his temperament to be anything but ____.
(A) congenial
(B) irascible
(C) jocular
(D) indolent
(E) cantankerous
(F) amiable
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role as leader of the Civil Rights Movement made him the target of violence; a flaming brick thrown through the window of his home, for example, was a ____ of greater violence, culminating in his assassination.
(A) prologue
(B) quadrille
(C) renaissance
(D) snippet
(E) omen
(F) harbinger
The US Supreme Court case Foucha v. Louisiana established that a person declared not guilty by reason of insanity must remain committed and cannot be ____ until he can sufficiently demonstrate he is no longer a danger to society.
(A) denounced
(B) disavowed
(C) acquitted
(D) discharged
(E) incarcerated
(F) apprehended
Bradley was dumbfounded to hear his erstwhile co-conspirator go on the record and ____ him.
(A) laud
(B) denigrate
(C) buttress
(D) aggrandize
(E) malign
(F) accost
Covert societies, such as the Y Society at University of Virginia and Skull and Bones at Yale, often rely on the ____ of former members to continue the tradition with each generation.
(A) progeny
(B) prominence
(C) benefaction
(D) tenacity
(E) posterity
(F) travail
Due to a ____ of resources, indigents in cities such as Johannesburg, South Africa, inhabit shanty towns, where they construct houses out of refuse.
(A) myriad
(B) dearth
(C) dichotomy
(D) paucity
(E) perpetuity
(F) profusion
To combat the tension between conquered and conqueror that seems to inevitably spark revolution, the Roman Empire adopted a practice of ____, attempting to make all conquered nations “Romans.”
(A) deterrence
(B) integration
(C) assimilation
(D) hegemony
(E) totalitarianism
(F) subjugation
Stevens was infamous for writing lengthy, verbose pages before recapitulating in one ____ phrase.
(A) jocular
(B) interminable
(C) monolithic
(D) pithy
(E) monotonous
(F) concise
With an immediate ____ of funds only a dubious hope, the company’s owner began to reconcile himself to bankruptcy.
(A) abatement
(B) bequest
(C) accretion
(D) fluctuation
(E) augmentation
(F) reduction
When the time came to decide whether or not to hire Michael, the store manager couldn’t help but ____; Michael’s aptitude was certain, his probity equivocal.
(A) vacillate
(B) relent
(C) rejoice
(D) propitiate
(E) hesitate
(F) exult
Many of the Founding Fathers were influenced by deism, a religious philosophy that ____ the belief in an incomprehensible god in favor of a deity whose existence may be logically deduced.
(A) professes
(B) abjures
(C) entrenches
(D) avers
(E) eschews
(F) pursues
When the corporate behemoth purchased Jenny’s modest company, it amalgamated its other recent acquisitions, and Jenny was ____ to a managerial position.
(A) elevated
(B) relegated
(C) demoted
(D) abrogated
(E) proscribed
(F) deflected
Megan left the first conditioning session of the season feeling ____ rather than empowered.
(A) emancipated
(B) euphoric
(C) quashed
(D) enervated
(E) vexed
(F) debilitated
While the politician never explicitly sanctioned the use of mudslinging by his campaign managers, there was a tacit understanding that he ____ it.
(A) prohibited
(B) condoned
(C) buttressed
(D) censured
(E) overlooked
(F) conferred
The aging man moved with surprising ____.
(A) alacrity
(B) pathos
(C) sluggishness
(D) rancor
(E) laxity
(F) swiftness
His long-winded diatribe against members of the opposing party convinced me he was one of the most ____ politicians I’d ever met.
(A) progressive
(B) benign
(C) untoward
(D) sanctimonious
(E) smug
(F) zealous
The ____ link between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels has convinced many nutritionists of the long debated salubriousness of eggs.
(A) cursory
(B) dubious
(C) tenuous
(D) incontrovertible
(E) chary
(F) insubstantial
In a bourgeois community full of pretentious people, I was taken aback by the new neighbor’s ____.
(A) exigency
(B) guile
(C) artlessness
(D) ambiguity
(E) ingenuousness
(F) cheekiness
____ becomes a necessary asset in the brutally competitive job market of a deteriorating economy.
(A) boldness
(B) temerity
(C) diffidence
(D) frugality
(E) reticence
(F) affability
For most stars in the galaxy, the Red Giant or Super Red Giant phase is the most ____, as it precedes a massive collapse that results in the formation of a planetary nebula.
(A) mercurial
(B) voluminous
(C) immutable
(D) volatile
(E) tranquil
(F) prodigal
While environmentalists and NGO’s have welcomed the move, there has been strong ____ from many a quarter.
(A) opposition
(B) rivalry
(C) approval
(D) counteraction
(E) acceptance
(F) animus
Despite all its ____, a stint in the diplomatic core is invariably an uplifting experience.
(A) merits
(B) compensation
(C) effectiveness
(D) rigors
(E) mediocrity
(F) hardships
Though a small man, J. Edgar Hoover appeared to be much larger behind his desk; for, having skillfully designed his office, he was ___ by the perspective.
(A) distorted
(B) augmented
(C) apprehended
(D) magnified
(E) disconcerted
(F) lessened
Children not only provide cheap labor, but they are also ____, as they do not complain about menial chores given to them or about harsh treatment meted out.
(A) impertinent
(B) facile
(C) presumptuous
(D) hesitant
(E) docile
(F) compliant