ISEE Lower Level Verbal : Word-Based Sentence Completions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ISEE Lower Level Verbal

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Example Questions

Example Question #521 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Technology has created a __________ world where people can communicate without in-person communication.

Possible Answers:

practical

stupendous

virtual

authentic

sublime

Correct answer:

virtual

Explanation:

Since the world of technology is not dependent upon in-person interactions, this indicates that it is virtual.

Example Question #522 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Her---movements indicated that she was awake even though she looked as though she was asleep.

Possible Answers:

unnoticeable

refined

distinct

uncertain

subtle

Correct answer:

subtle

Explanation:

Even though she appears to be asleep, her subtle or slight movements show that she is awake.

Example Question #523 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

In order to---the meals she made with her rather poor cooking skills, Lisa took several vitamins a day.

Possible Answers:

supplement

complement

enhance

increase

decrease

Correct answer:

supplement

Explanation:

By consuming vitamins along with her meals, she supplements the meals she makes.

Example Question #524 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

The---look of their competitors when they won the soccer match was prideful in nature.

Possible Answers:

empty

overzealous

meek

naive

smug

Correct answer:

smug

Explanation:

Since the competitors' looks were prideful, it indicates that their expressions were smug.

Example Question #525 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Each question below is made up of a sentence with one blank. The blank indicates that a word is missing. Each sentence is followed by five choices. Select the one word that will best complete the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

The---amount of salad dressing that was added to the salad indicated that Vanessa was not concerned about being on a diet.

Possible Answers:

liberal

standard

paltry

pitiful

middling

Correct answer:

liberal

Explanation:

Since Vanessa was not on a diet, it means that she presumably put an excessive or liberal amount of salad dressing on her salad.

Example Question #526 : Word Based Sentence Completions

The __________ habitat for a bear is a forest full of berries, fish, and honey it can eat and caves in which it can hibernate in the winter.

Possible Answers:

ideal

personable

improbable

worst

sleepy

Correct answer:

ideal

Explanation:

We can infer that a bear would be well-suited to the habitat described, so we need to pick out an adjective for the blank that means something like "suitable" or "perfect." So, "worst" cannot be the correct answer because "worst" is an antonym of "perfect." "Ideal," however, is an adjective that can mean "satisfying one's conception of what is perfect; most suitable," and because "ideal" best fits the context of the sentence, it is the correct answer.

Example Question #527 : Word Based Sentence Completions

The door-to-door salesman thought that the neighborhood he was canvassing would be friendly and personable, but was surprised to find them __________, with homeowners unwilling to open their doors for him and barking at him to get off of their property.

Possible Answers:

amiable

political

hostile

comprehensive

harmful

Correct answer:

hostile

Explanation:

We can infer that the salesman expected the homeowners to be "friendly and personable," but was surprised because they were not. So, we need to pick out an adjective to describe the homeowners that means something like "not friendly" or "not personable." "Amiable" cannot be the correct answer, then, because "amiable" is a synonym of "friendly." "Hostile," however, is an adjective that means "unfriendly; antagonistic," and it is the correct answer because it best describes the reception that the salesman received and best fits the context of the sentence.

Example Question #528 : Word Based Sentence Completions

One of poetry's greatest strengths is that it can be interpreted both metaphorically, in a way that considers indirect meanings and symbolism, and __________, in a way where words mean exactly what they say and nothing more.

Possible Answers:

negatively

symbolically

uproariously

literally

gratuitously

Correct answer:

literally

Explanation:

We can infer from the sentence's structure that we need to pick out an adverb that means something like "in a way where words mean exactly what they say." While "symbolically" might look like a potentially correct answer, we can tell that because "metaphorically" interpreting poetry "considers…symbolism," the missing adverb is not likely to consider symbolism as well, so "symbolically" cannot be the correct answer. "Literally," however, is an adverb that means "in a manner in which one takes words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory," and because it best describes a way of interpreting poetry that in which "words mean exactly what they say" and best fits the sentence's context, "literally" is the correct answer.

Example Question #529 : Word Based Sentence Completions

At dinner, the duchess told of the __________ ordeal she experienced while traveling when the horses pulling her carriage got out of hand and dashed uncontrollably down a steep hill, with the carriage barely managing to remain upright.

Possible Answers:

pleasant

evanescent

putrid

lonesome

harrowing

Correct answer:

harrowing

Explanation:

We can infer that the duchess's ordeal was not pleasant and probably scary, so we need to pick out an adjective to describe it that means something like "unpleasant" or "scary." So, "pleasant" cannot be the correct answer because it is an antonym of "unpleasant." "Harrowing," however, is an adjective that means "acutely distressing," and because it is the answer choice that best describes the duchess's experience and best fits the context of the sentence, "harrowing" is the correct answer.

Example Question #530 : Word Based Sentence Completions

Medicines are extensively tested before doctors are allowed to give them to patients to make sure that all of the potential __________ side effects have been catalogued; that way, when a doctor prescribes a medicine, he or she is aware of all of its potentially damaging side effects.

Possible Answers:

beneficial

limited

presumptuous

welcome

adverse

Correct answer:

adverse

Explanation:

We can infer from the sentence that the word in the blank needs to describe a medicine's side effects, specifically unwanted or bad side effects, because cataloguing the side effects that the blank refers to results in doctors being "aware of all [a medicine's] potentially damaging side effects." So, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "harmful." So, "beneficial" cannot be the correct answer because "beneficial" means the opposite of "harmful." "Adverse," however, is an adjective that means "preventing success or development; harmful; unfavorable," and because it is the answer choice that best describes the "potentially damaging side effects" the sentence discusses and best fits the context of the sentence, "adverse" is the correct answer.

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