126 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Vocabulary Unit 4 Exercise Set I
Time—8 minutes
For each question, select the best answer among the choices given. Note any vocabulary words to
review on the Hit List below.- The ------ soldiers were commended for their
refusal to surrender even when survival seemed
to be an impossibility.
(A) bombastic
(B) dogged
(C) disputatious
(D) infamous
(E) dexterous - Five months after the surgical procedure, the
patient requested a stronger pain medication to
help ------ the daily discomfort she felt in her
shoulder.
(A) exonerate
(B) alleviate
(C) invigorate
(D) perambulate
(E) scrutinize - The ------ golden statues added to the front of the
house were excessively ------ even for the preten-
tious family that lived there.
(A) ornate.. ostentatious
(B) opulent.. nefarious
(C) insipid.. pompous
(D) splenetic.. grandiose
(E) gaudy.. mercurial - In an effort to ------ his bitter opponents, the
President passed a law they had been pushing
unsuccessfully for years.
(A) consummate
(B) mollify
(C) vindicate
(D) purge
(E) invoke - Sally’s ------ made her a ------ for many a con
artist.
(A) loftiness.. chump
(B) infallibility.. curmudgeon
(C) pacifism.. charlatan
(D) placidity.. ruse
(E) gullibility.. dupe
6. Despite having ruled the nation for thirty years
as ------ and ------ dictator, the prime minister
was remembered for his munificence during the
food shortage of 1987.
(A) an abominable.. beneficent
(B) a repugnant.. magnanimous
(C) an obstinate.. lithe
(D) a steadfast.. benevolent
(E) an odious.. malevolent
7. The deft way in which the lawyer was able to
deflect the negative testimony to his favor showed
why he is the ------ of prosecution.
(A) paragon
(B) conviction
(C) braggart
(D) machination
(E) misanthrope
8. The resort island is a fantasy vacation spot for a
------; one has rarely seen so much luxury and
splendor in one place.
(A) sybarite
(B) zealot
(C) nihilist
(D) narcissist
(E) ascetic
9. When a basketball player commits ------ foul in
a flagrant attempt to hurt a player, the referee
calls a “technical foul” and the team that is
fouled receives two foul shots and retains pos-
session of the ball.
(A) a preeminent
(B) a peripheral
(C) a masochistic
(D) an inexorable
(E) an egregious - The young scamp has always shown ------ for lar-
ceny, having successfully ------ his first purse at
the young age of six.
(A) an equanimity.. filched
(B) a bigotry.. bilked
(C) an aptitude.. pilfered
(D) a predilection.. exculpated
(E) an agility.. razed