Verbs in One-Blank Texts - GRE Verbal

The book reading had an effect on his desire to travel to Paris, and the phrase "even more" indicate it helped that desire. "Whetted," meaning to sharpen or refine, is the best fit among the answer choices.

The two key words in the sentence are "drive" and "simple." The correct answer will indicate an easy journey. "Jaunt," meaning a fun, short trip, is the best choice.

If a person gets indicted, then he is not obeying the law. The correct answer will reflect his dislike or avoidance of "tax law." "Circumvent," meaning to go around or move out of the way of, is the best choice.

The toys have caused "multiple injuries," so presumably they are not wanted at a school. The correct answer must mean forbidden or outlawed, the definition of "proscribed."

To "denigrate" means to defame or belittle.

To "repudiate" means to disown or abandon, which is what a club would be forced to do with a contrary member.

To "exculpate" means to exonerate or to clear of blame.

You are looking for a verb that means "to deny," which is exactly what "contest" means. None of the other words make sense in the context of the sentence.

The word to pay attention to in this sentence is “surprising,” as it indicates that a negative word is necessary to complete the sentence. The only such word is “denigrated.”

The sentence is explaining that beginning pilots hurt themselves by not paying attention to the plane’s instruments. The word that best completes the sentence should mean "confusing." “Mystifying” is the closest synonym to "confusing" among the answer choices.

“Discerns” mean to perceive something, in this case, the moral ambiguity presented as a major theme of Frankenstein.

The sentence says that Harold was going to ask for a raise, but then he found out that sales were down. This means the news prevented him from asking, so "thwarted" is correct. “Thwarted” means that he was hindered from carrying out his plan.

The boss obviously scolded her, which is the meaning of "castigated." “Maligned” means slandered, which isn't quite the same thing. The other answers don't make sense in context.

It is common knowledge that alcohol abuse is deleterious to the health of the liver. Naturally, Donald’s doctor would want him to "abstain" (that is, refrain) from alcohol consumption.

The word that fills in the blank must consider three things: 1) The contract still exists; it has not been "obliterated"; 2) The crooked attorney wants the farmer to sign the contract; a "nullified" contract is a non-binding contract, even when signed; and 3) It would not likely be in the crooked attorney’s interests to explain to the farmer how he is cheating him; it would not be in the attorney’s interest to "clarify" or "explicate" the terms of the contract. "Obfuscate" is the answer because it is in the attorney’s interest to deliberately make the contract difficult to understand.

The word that fills in the blank must help characterize the President’s decision making in light of the writer’s ignorance regarding the President’s motivations. The President’s decision making, for the writer, has always been covered in mystery, so "enshrouded" is the correct answer.

To "extol" means to praise. It makes sense that the critic, finding little wrong with the play, offered a good review. "Lambaste" is the opposite: to criticize severely.

The "clue phrase" in this sentence is "not only . . . even . . ." This indicates an intensification from the first portion to the second portion of the phrase.

Let us consider each of our options. The first two that we can eliminate are "derided" and "spurned." These both imply a negativity that doesn't make sense given the clue phrase. "Lauded" might seem to fit, but it really would prevent us from having an intensification from the first to the second part of the phrase. We are left with "accepted" and "considered." This is a tricky last set. The intensified word in the second half of the phrase is "hailed;" therefore, it is more appropriate to choose "accepted" as being the word to be intensified since it is least ambiguous regarding the scholars' approval of the conclusions. "Considering" can merely mean thinking about the topic, not necessarily accepting it (though that could—but not necessarily—be the case).

The sense of the the sentence indicates that kind words fail to help in improvement of a bad situation. It is perhaps tempting to choose "augment" because of its sense of "increase." Certain verbal associations might lead one to choose "retract" or "allay," but these do not apply. "Ameliorate" fits best, as it means "to improve" or "make better."