Vocab E Lessons 5-6

The eucalyptus is the _______ tree of Australia, thriving in over four hundred species.

• preponderant

• imponderable

• ponderous

• recumbent

Answer explanation

Preponderant: predominant in influence, number, or importance

Research into new forms of public transportation includes a vehicle that _______ over a track by means of repelling magnets.

• leavens

• sublimates

• levitates

• avers

Answer explanation

Levitate: rise or cause to rise and hover in the air

In the fifteenth century Luca della Robbia created terra-cotta _______ in which glazed white figures rose up from a blue background.

• bas-reliefs

• subterfuges

• cataclysms

• legerdemains

Answer explanation

Bas-relief: sculpture in which the projection from the surrounding surface is slight and no part of the modeled form is undercut

In 1881 Carlos Finlay, a Cuban physician, published the ________ that mosquitos transmit yellow fever, a theory that was later corroborated.

• hypochondriac

• penchant

• subjectivism

• hypothesis

Answer explanation

Hypothesis: a proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation

Before the twentieth century, Western portrait artists were generally interested in _________, but with the mergence of artists such as Picasso, painters became less concerned about capturing literal likeness.

• transcendence

• verisimilitude

• bas-relief

• leverage

Answer explanation

Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real

MaoTse-tung's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s proved to be a(n) _________ that destroyed much of China's great art and disrupted its social institutions.

• levitation

• cataclysm

• declivity

• proclivity

Answer explanation

Cataclysm: a large-scale and destructive event

Esau resorted to ________ when he disguised himself as his hairy brother and cheated him out of his birthright.

• echelon

• levity

• preponderance

• subterfuge

Answer explanation

Subterfuge: deceit used in order to achieve one's goal

In the 1970's Robert Lee Vesco defrauded investors through accounting _______ by which he made millions of dollars disappear from mutual funds.

• averment

• catapult

• legerdemain

• sublimation

Answer explanation

Legerdemain: skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks

Ancient Greeks and Romans were recumbent at their meals, ______ on couches before the dining table.

• reclining

• sitting

• spilling

• voting

Answer explanation

Recumbent: in a reclining position

Catabolism is the metabolic _______ of complex molecules into simpler ones, often resulting in the release of energy.

• Creation

• launching

• eating

• breakdown

Answer explanation

Cata: (root) down, downward