Home › Reading and Writing › Targeted practice Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast — Topic practice 12 exercises · 12 automatically checked · Untimed
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The historian’s claim initially rested on one diary. Shipping receipts independently confirmed the same route, helping to ______ her argument.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A buttress Eliminate choice A A
B redress Eliminate choice B B
C demarcate Eliminate choice C C
D refute Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A — correct: The receipts add support to an existing claim.
B: There is no identified wrong or imbalance to remedy.
C: The receipts support the claim rather than mark a boundary.
D: Confirmation strengthens the claim instead of showing it false.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
A billing system charged several families twice. The utility issued refunds to ______ the error.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A catalog Eliminate choice A A
B anticipate Eliminate choice B B
C redress Eliminate choice C C
D perpetuate Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: Listing the error would not remedy the duplicate charges.
B: The error already occurred; refunds do not anticipate it.
C — correct: Refunds remedy the financial wrong.
D: Refunds end the error’s consequences rather than prolong them.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
In the manuscript, a heavy vertical line allows the author’s later notes to be clearly ______ the original text.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A derived from Eliminate choice A A
B demarcated from Eliminate choice B B
C conflated with Eliminate choice C C
D substituted for Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: The line distinguishes layers; it does not establish that the notes originate from the text.
B — correct: Demarcated from means marked off or distinguished from.
C: Conflated with would merge the two layers, contrary to the line’s purpose.
D: The notes remain alongside the original rather than replacing it.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
No one had heard Imani improvise until a broken script forced her to invent dialogue. Her performance revealed a previously ______ talent.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A exhaustive Eliminate choice A A
B manifest Eliminate choice B B
C irrelevant Eliminate choice C C
D latent Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: Exhaustive means thorough or complete, not unexpressed.
B: Manifest means evident, contrary to previously unrecognized talent.
C: The talent was relevant to inventing dialogue.
D — correct: The ability was present but had not previously become evident.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
The archive’s rules barred every outside visitor, making the collection ______ to independent researchers, however readable its documents were.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A impenetrable Eliminate choice A A
B indecipherable Eliminate choice B B
C tentative Eliminate choice C C
D integral Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A — correct: The barrier concerns gaining access, the relevant sense of impenetrable.
B: The documents are readable; comprehension is not the barrier.
C: Tentative means provisional and does not describe exclusion.
D: Integral means essential to a whole, not inaccessible.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
The translation team had staff and funding, but the loss of the only dictionary for the dialect threatened to ______ progress.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A vindicate Eliminate choice A A
B stymie Eliminate choice B B
C demarcate Eliminate choice C C
D commend Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: Vindicate means justify or clear from criticism, not obstruct.
B — correct: Losing the essential resource creates an obstacle to the work.
C: No boundary is being marked.
D: Commend expresses praise; the missing resource does not praise the work.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
The organizer acknowledged that rain was possible but remained ______ about the festival, expecting that the covered stage would keep attendance high.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A sanguine Eliminate choice A A
B hostile Eliminate choice B B
C indifferent Eliminate choice C C
D skeptical Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A — correct: She expects a favorable outcome despite a risk, showing optimism.
B: There is no antagonism toward the festival.
C: She expresses a view about its prospects, not a lack of concern.
D: The stated expectation is positive, not doubtful.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
Although widely honored, the engineer had an ______ manner: she listened quietly and never advertised her awards.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A ostentatious Eliminate choice A A
B imperious Eliminate choice B B
C unassuming Eliminate choice C C
D exhaustive Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: Ostentatious means showy, the opposite of her behavior.
B: Imperious means domineering; listening without self-promotion does not suggest it.
C — correct: Her modest, unpretentious manner fits unassuming.
D: Exhaustive describes completeness, not modest behavior.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
A stone arch had begun to lean. Before reopening the passage, masons added two supports to ______ it.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A qualify Eliminate choice A A
B redress Eliminate choice B B
C stymie Eliminate choice C C
D buttress Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: Qualify can limit a claim or establish eligibility; neither repairs an arch.
B: One can redress a problem, but the direct object here is the arch, not a wrong or imbalance.
C: Stymie would obstruct activity, not structurally support the arch.
D — correct: Buttress also has a literal structural sense: give support to the arch.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
Even specialists could not follow the manual’s undefined symbols and missing steps. In this context, describing the manual as impenetrable means that it is ______.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A physically inaccessible Eliminate choice A A
B impossible to understand Eliminate choice B B
C unwilling to change Eliminate choice C C
D unusually concise Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: The problem is interpreting its content, not reaching or obtaining it.
B — correct: Here the figurative barrier is comprehension.
C: A manual cannot have an attitude of unwillingness in this context.
D: Missing steps do not establish useful brevity, and concision does not necessarily prevent understanding.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
The shop’s plain doorway was ______: nothing outside hinted at the elaborate mechanical clocks displayed within.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A unassuming Eliminate choice A A
B sanguine Eliminate choice B B
C latent Eliminate choice C C
D skeptical Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A — correct: The doorway is ordinary and unobtrusive in appearance, without implying that the shop lacks value.
B: Sanguine describes optimism, not a doorway’s appearance.
C: The doorway is visible and active as an entrance, not a dormant capacity.
D: Skeptical describes doubt, not architectural presentation.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
The reviewer accepted the experiment’s result for indoor conditions but warned that it might not hold outdoors. This warning ______ the claim.
Which choice most precisely fits the context?
Eliminate answers A refutes Eliminate choice A A
B buttresses Eliminate choice B B
C qualifies Eliminate choice C C
D redresses Eliminate choice D D
Check answer Reveal without answering Reset this question
Why this answer A: The result is accepted within a limit, not shown false.
B: The warning limits where the result applies rather than adding confirming evidence.
C — correct: Qualifies is the familiar contrast meaning limits by stating conditions.
D: There is no identified wrong being remedied.
Review lesson: Vocabulary: meaning, construction, and contrast
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