Verbs in One-Blank Texts - GRE Verbal

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."

The dog is essentially hiding from people when he hears them, and the correct answer will in some way be a synonym for hiding. Of all the answer choices, only obscuring means hiding or being unseen.

The structure of the sentence indicates that the ballplayer looked exactly like a nineteenth-century player, despite not being one. The correct answer choice should indicate that he is a model. Epitomized, meaning "embodying and exemplifying the basic elements of something," is the correct answer choice.

The structure of the sentence indicates that the athlete is no longer as fit as he used to be. The correct answer choice needs to indicate that he has let himself go. "Languish," meaning suffer or decline, is the only choice that makes sense in the sentence.

The key word in this sentence is "annoyed," indicating the author disagreed with the conspiracy theories. He would not attempt to support any of their claims, so the correct answer should indicate criticism or skepticism. Of all the choices, only "debunking," meaning exposing false ideas, makes sense in the sentence.

The young man's attempt to avoid trouble with his parents means he was not telling the truth or avoiding difficult subjects. "Equivocate," which means speak ambiguously, is the only answer choice with that meaning, as all the other choices indicate either excessive speaking, forthrightness, or both.

The best word to find the correct answer is "miscalculation," and all the other words are extraneous distractions. The structure of the sentence places many words between the missing word and miscalculation, but the correct choice needs to be close in meaning to miscalculation. Only "erred," meaning to make a mistake, fits the correct meaning of the sentence.

Even if the word "filibuster" is unfamiliar, the phrase "delaying votes" gives a good enough definition to find the answer. The correct answer will in some was mean delaying. "Hindered," meaning to obstruct, is the best choice among the answers.

The structure of the sentence makes it clear that the professor cannot give a simple answer, so the correct answer will mean the opposite. "Simplify," "excise," "abridge," and "clarify" all mean to make simple in one way or another, and can all be struck out. Only "pontificate," meaning to speak excessively and even arrogantly, is correct in the sentence.