Nouns and Verbs in Two-Blank Texts - GRE Verbal

An "iconoclast" is a person who destroys religious imagery or attacks established beliefs. The word comes from Middle Greek and literally means "image-destroyer" (from "eikono," image, and "klan," to break). To "purge" means to cause a removal, often of a defiling or unwanted substance. Many individuals involved in the Protestant Reformation took issue with the use of religious icons, and in some cases caused their removal or destruction.

In this sentence, what follows the dependent clause beginning with “Even though” must show that the Greek politician has a self-image that exists in spite of the dependent clause’s assertion. Only when the politician "abhors" (detests) the undocumented African immigrants AND does not believe himself to be a "bigot" (a prejudiced person) is that condition met.

The key phrase is in the second sentence is "unforseen events." This does not necessarily imply negativity, therefore weakening the case for "vexations . . . jaundicing" and "disasters . . . ruining." Even "delays . . . unsettling" is a bit negative, and if nothing else duplicates content found in the second sentence. Although "factors" might be tempting, the sense of "contingencies" is closest to "unforseen events"—at least insofar as such events rely upon any number of contingent factors. Although "souring" might seem informal, it does capture the necessary sense for the second sentence and there is acceptable. The correct answer is thus "contingencies . . . souring."

The dictator's rule is marked by doing things unexpectedly and preumably without much express reason. In his old age, it is shown by the verbal oddities that he desired to impose on the people. "Offering" partially fits the second blank, but its correlated "treachery" really is too far from the needed meaning. Likewise, "defining" only partially fulfills our purposes and "mania" is only a remote possibility. "Inconsistency" and "fabricating" are perhaps more tempting, and understandably should be placed on our "short list"; however, the best fit is "fiat" and "stipulating." To rule by fiat means to rule by mere declaration. Likewise, to "stipulate" means to assign or specify. A stipulative definition is one that assigns a meaning to an already existing term, perhaps in contradiction to the existing definition.

In this case, the question requires us to strech the meaning a bit, but the sense remains. The man's words have a predictive character to them, so it is fair to say that they "portend" future events. The word comes from the combination of the prefix "por," which is related to "fore" and is derived from the Latin "tendere," meaning to stretch. Portending events point toward future events. We can consider the man's words themselves as portending future events.

The sentence discusses the "correspondents" being late with replies. This indicates a back and forth in communication, and an "epistle" is a letter. Since the recipients are being criticized, or "lambasted," both words fit the sentence.

The sentence refers to a "soldier" and "invaders," giving a military theme to the sentence. The first blank must mean some kind of weapon, while the second blank indicates harming the "armor." "Lance," a spear or long spike, and "breach," meaning to penetrate, together make up the correct answer.

The media coverage is by expert opinion-givers, or "pundits." Nothing in the sentence says for sure that the coverage is done by "partisans," or people strongly on one side of an issue. "Eschew" means to avoid, which seems to be suggested for the second choice.

Let's start with the second blank. We're looking for a word that means take or steal, and knowing that, we can eliminate the choices that include "waylay," "attenuate," and "annex." This leaves us with "escape with" and "abscond with," and two choices for the first blank: "bombast" and "chicanery." Since "bombast" means fancy but mostly meaningless language and "chicanery" means trickery, the correct answer is "chicanery . . . abscond with."

For the first blank, we need a verb that means something like stopped. Either "impeded" (delayed; prevented; hindered) or "obstructed" (blocked) could work. For the second blank, we need a noun that describes a person who does something different from the rest of a group. Between "maverick" (an independent individual who does follow the rest of a group) and "zealot" (fanatic or radical), "maverick" is the better choice, so the answer is "impeded . . . maverick."

For the first blank, we're looking for an adjective that describes the student's inappropriate lightheartedness; either "levity" (lightheartedness, especially in a situation in which it is inappropriate) or "frivolity" (lack of seriousness) could work. For the second blank, we need a verb that means something like "supported"; in choosing between "ameliorated," (improve) and "advocated" (supported publicly), "advocated" is the better choice, so the answer is "levity . . . advocated."

We can tell from the context of the sentence that for the first blank, we're looking for a verb that means something like "praising." Of the available choices, either "describing" or "extolling" ("praising enthusiastically") could work. For the second blank, we need a noun that describes something that is supposedly able to cure lots of problems. Either "cure-all" or "panacea" ("a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases") could be correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "extolling" and "panacea" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "extolling . . . panacea."

For the first blank, we need to pick out a word that means something like leave, because the sentence is describing what students do relative to a building during a fire drill. Either "vacate" (leave a location) or "exit" could be correct. For the second blank, we need to pick out a word that means something like chaos, so either "disorder" or "tumult" could be correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "vacate" and "tumult" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "vacate . . . tumult."

Clearly, the second blank is looking for something like tricked, fooled, or deceived. The idea is that the statue was so crafted that it fooled the viewer into thinking that it was larger than it actually was. An "artifice" is a kind of crafting that involves the general intention to deceive. That is, it is not only about making an artifact but, instead, includes this further intention.

For the first blank, we can infer that the problems began to happen again soon after the company started production again, so we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "happen again" or "continue." Either "recur" ("occur again, periodically, or repeatedly") or "resurface" ("arise or become evident again") could be correct. For the second blank, we know that the company stopped production for a few days, so we can infer that we need to pick out a word that means something like "rest period." Either "hiatus" ("a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process") or "break" could be correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "recur" and "hiatus" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "recur . . . hiatus."

For this question, let's start with the first blank. Based on the first clause of this sentence, both "respected" (admired) and "replicated" (copied) make sense. It is what comes after the semicolon that can help you answer this question, as it notes that "many adaptations exist" and they are "just slightly tweaked." Therefore, "replicated" is a more exact word to put in this blank, as the sentence explicitly states that many near-copies exist.

The second blank counts on text logic, as well. The final clause of the sentence is dependent on the idea of "adaptations", to which the word that goes in the second blank needs to refer directly. Looking at the answer choices, the clear choice is "editions" (versions), and not "edifices" (buildings). This makes the correct answer "replicated . . . editions."

This question primarily hinges on the word "hermit," which describes a person who lives in solitude. Often there are religious reasons for such actions, but this is not necessarily the case. The main idea of being a "hermit" is the notion of such a solitary existence. Therefore, a number of the wrong answers are incorrect because they offer too much additional information or specification. Hermits might be recollecting, pacifists, or given to reflection; however, their main characteristic is their solitude. Therefore, this is the best first answer. Upon return, they will be surprised to find the alterations that occurred in the world—i.e. how the world has changed.

The word "hid" implies that Peter John Olivi did not want his writings to be known for what they are. Therefore, he sought to hide his real meaning or to conceal it. The verb "to obscure" means just that—to conceal or attempt to hide. It comes from the Latin for "dark." When we use "obscure" as an adjective, it means difficult to understand. Such things are difficult because they are "shaded" from being seen in their full light. Peter looked conceal what he really intended to say. That is, for the second blank, he is hiding his real "intentions."

The best clue for this sentence is "such flattery." This indicates that the action described in the first blank is a kind of flattering action. This helps to eliminate the somewhat tempting option "dote," which means to be very fond of someone without making any critique of any flaws he or she might have. To "fawn," however, is precisely to show flattery in a very open way. One hopes, by such fawning, to gain favors. A "boon" is a helpful thing. Sometimes, we say something like, "The gift was such a great boon to the poor family." This means that it was a great help for them.