Sentence Completions: Style, Intensity, and Connotation - ISEE Middle Level Verbal Reasoning

The Great Depression was a very difficult time when many people suffered a great deal. To solve this problem you are looking for an answer choice that reflects this meaning. The correct answer is therefore "hardship," which means great suffering, poverty or pain. To provide further help, "jubilation" means happy celebration; "opulence" means great wealth; "splendor" means magnificence; "prosperity" means wealth and success.

The girl is described as "beautiful" and the boy decides to ask her out on a date. It makes sense then that the boy was strongly attracted to and/or in love with the girl. The correct answer then is "smitten." To be "smitten" means to be deeply attracted to or in love with. To provide further help, "anxious" means worried; "timid" means shy; "docile" means harmless and obedient; "passive" means not aggressive, accepting and submissive.

"Seeming to go on forever" is the clue in this sentence. The word that most closely means "seeming to go on forever" is "vast," which means immense, so "vast" is the correct answer.

One might be tempted to pick "limber," which means flexible. But nothing in this sentence indicates the athlete is flexible. The sentence does tell us that the athlete "completed the obstacle course more quickly than anyone at his school had done so before," however, so we know that the athlete is fast. "Nimble," which means quick, best describes the athlete, so "nimble" is the correct answer.

From the context of the sentence, you can infer that Steve would be likely to travel slowly to his friend's house; the sentence tells you he "was in no hurry." The answer choice that best captures this slow movement is “amble,” which means walk slowly. To help you, "sprint" means run quickly, and "allay" means calm or diminish and is usually used in the sense of allaying someone's fears or concerns.

In this sentence, Vince is being contrasted to Rickard inasmuch as Rickard is modest and Vince, apparently, is not. Specifically, Vince's immodesty pertains to his concerns about appearance and clothing. Since he is prominently displaying these, he must have a high opinion of his appearance. Such a person is vain—an attitude quite the opposite of that found in a modest person.

The sentence indicates an increase in intensity between being annoyed and the word that we need. Several of the options are relative synonyms for annoy ("vexed," "miffed"). The other options do not adequately express an intensification of anger. However, the word "enraged," though it may seem a bit strong, is indeed the best option.

The sentence is setting up a contrast of intensification. The cooling of temperatures is going from being "cold" to being cold_er_. This is the key thing that you need to capture. The word "frigid", strictly speaking, means "very cold." None of the other options are appropriate for conveying intensification. The only other weather-related word, "balmy," means pleasantly warm. This definitely does not fit!

This sentence contrasts how Gilbert acted in public and in private. Therefore, the best option for the sentence would be "privacy," for this describes his home as being the private space in which he was quiet—as opposed to the public space that is mentioned in the first part. The word "privacy" helps to establish the contrast quite clearly.

If the author is "thankful" and the girl made a "complete recovery" then the poison must not have been deadly, likely to cause death, or "lethal." To provide further help, "superb" means excellent; "paltry" means small, an insufficiently little amount of something; "hilarious" means very funny; "muddled" means confused.

Since the boat rocked back and forth, it indicates that the waves were violent or turbulent. The key to this question is noting that the waves must have been violent for the passengers to feel ill.

Due to her quirky way of dressing and the fact that she dances around the classroom, the English teacher is best described as eccentric or unconventional.

The best word to describe the dishes that are typically eaten at an American Thanksgiving dinner is conventional; certain dishes are conventionally or normally served.

We can tell by the sentence's context that we're looking for an adjective that means something like old. While both "elderly" and "obsolete" mean old, "elderly" refers to people, while "obsolete" specifically means out of date. Because "obsolete" fits the context of the sentence best in referring to technologies that are no longer used, it is the best answer.

Because she could barely fit through the door because of her hairstyle, we know that the queen's hairstyle was very large. So, we need to pick out an answer choice that is an adjective and a synonym of "large." While "largesse" may look like an obvious answer, "largesse" is not an adjective meaning "large" but a noun meaning "generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others." So, "largesse" cannot be the correct answer. "Egregious" may also sound like a potentially correct answer, but egregious is an adjective meaning "outstandingly bad" or "shocking." Neither of these meanings are similar to "large," so "egregious" cannot be the correct answer either. "Voluminous," an adjective meaning "occupying or containing much space; large in volume," is the correct answer because it is the only answer choice that means "large in volume."

Since we know that the snow leopard is rarely seen, we should pick out an answer choice that means something like rarely seen. While "sneaky" may look like the best answer choice, "elusive" is actually the better answer because while "sneaky" means sly, "elusive" means difficult to find. "Elusive" fits the context of the sentence better than "sneaky" does because the meaning of "elusive" involves being hard to find, so "elusive" is the correct answer.

We know that the actor missed some direction telling him to enter the scene, so we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "signal." While "summons" might seem like the correct answer, "cue" fits the context of the sentence better; while "summons" means "an authoritative or urgent call to someone to be present or to do something" or "an order to appear before a judge or magistrate, or the writ containing it," "cue" means "a thing said or done that serves as a signal to an actor or other performer to enter or to begin their speech or performance." Because "cue" best fits the theatrical context of the sentence, "cue" is the correct answer.

In this context, we are looking for a verb that would describe a miserable person's cry for help as it is cut off, which we notice by the dash at the end of the first quotation. Ran does not make sense, and laughed and exhalted are both the wrong tone. While stated is a perfectly reasonable answer grammatically speaking, it does not capture the moment as well as faltered, so that is the proper answer.

We can infer from the sentence's description of the movie's plot that it is probably gory, or "involves a lot of violence and bloodshed." While we can describe the moviegoers and theatre staff as "unlucky," "unlucky" does not describe the plot of the movie itself, so it cannot be the correct answer. The best answer is "gruesome," an adjective that means "causing repulsion or horror; grisly," or "extremely unpleasant."

We can infer from the sentence's context that we need to pick out a word that means something like "a short trip," because the biology class went to the local zoo but was back in time for lunch. All of the answer choices refer to different kinds of trips except for "itinerary," which means "a planned route or journey" or "a travel document recording these," so it is not the correct answer. "Odyssey" refers to a very long journey, so it cannot be the correct answer either, and neither can "vacation," because we can infer that the trip took place as a field trip during school hours. While "errand" refers to a short trip, it specifically means "a short journey undertaken in order to deliver or collect something, often on someone else's behalf"; that wouldn't fit the sentence's meaning, so "errand" cannot be the correct answer. "Excursion," a noun that means "a short journey or trip, especially one engaged in as a leisure activity," is the best answer choice for the sentence's context, so it is the correct answer.