SAT Vocab Quiz practice

The Mayans’ sudden and irrevocable _______ is a long-standing historic _______: over the years, scholars have suggested a number of possible causes, including excessive warfare and devastating natural disasters, to explain the disappearance of Mayan civilization.

• demise .. mystery

• longevity .. enigma

• rebirth .. riddle

• collapse .. myth

• resurgence .. conjecture

Answer explanation

The question asks you to find a pair of words that are consistent with the Mayans’ "disappearance” and the fact that scholars still cannot explain why they vanished.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Gustave Courbet’s bitter and spiteful denunciations of his critics earned him a reputation for being _____________ .

• magnanimous

• abstemious

• meticulous

• vitriolic

• erroneous

Answer explanation

The question asks you to find a negative word that best characterizes how Courbet’s “bitter and spiteful denunciations” affected his reputation.

What is the most inspiring about Professor DeMarco’s portrayal of Venetian life is the _________ of the human spirit, the force that has sustained the island-city through adversity and always remains undaunted.

• divisiveness

• resilience

• superficiality

• reticence

Tags

CCSS.L.2.4B

CCSS.L.3.2E

CCSS.L.2.4C

Cautious, conventional, and always careful to follow procedures, Matthew is the very model of ____________ government bureaucrat.

• an audacious

• a resilient

• a circumspect

• a sardonic

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Muckrakers like Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell _________ the corrupt business practices of early 20th century robber barons, __________ their unbridled greed and indifferent attitude toward the public good.

• disapproved .. lauding

• decried .. denouncing

• reaffirmed .. deriding

• celebrated .. censuring

Tags

CCSS.L.1.6

CCSS.L.3.6

CCSS.L.4.6

CCSS.RL.1.4

Scientists warn that the _____________ consequences of global warming will not be limited to the deterioration of penguin and polar bear habitats; humans can also expect devastating hurricanes and _____________ floods.

• deleterious .. destructive

• incontrovertible .. innocuous

• painstaking .. beneficial

• fortuitous .. damaging

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Charlie looked back on his family’s vacation at the lake as _____________ time filled with

carefree days and untroubled tranquility.

• an intemperate

• a halcyon

• an anguished

• an ambiguous

Answer explanation

The question asks you to find a word that is consistent with “carefree days and untroubled

tranquility.”

Tags

CCSS.L.1.6

CCSS.L.3.6

CCSS.L.4.6

CCSS.RL.1.4

Sydney is best described as ___________ : she is an independent person who recognizes that the majority is sometimes wrong.

• an ascetic

• a charlatan

• a stoic

• a maverick

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Some people alternate between contrasting temperaments; either they are ________ or they are _________ .

• nefarious .. wicked

• morose .. despondent

• affable .. genial

• quixotic .. pragmatic

Answer explanation

The question asks you to find a pair of antonyms describing “contrasting temperaments.”

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Morgan was _____________ person, naturally inclined to be tearful and excessively sentimental.

• a maudlin

• a deft

• a quixotic

• a recalcitrant

Tags

CCSS.L.1.6

CCSS.L.3.6

CCSS.L.4.6

CCSS.RL.1.4