For over 5,000 years, wind and water have buffeted boats propelled by sails.

The Egyptians were the first to use sails to power wooden boats. Over the centuries,

European shipbuilders constructed bigger and stronger wooden ships with voluminous

sails and increasingly intricate rigging. In the 1400s and 1500s, a type of sailing ship

called a galleon was used both to make war and to carry cargo. As guns grew heavier

and cargoes more precious, the designs of warships and merchant ships diverged.

What is the meaning of voluminous

as it is used in the paragraph?

In the 1600s and 1700s, the demand for goods from the Orient became so vociferous

in Europe that private trading companies found it highly profitable to build larger and

larger merchant riggers.

Which word is closest in meaning to

vociferous as it is used in the paragraph?

By the early 1800s, trade between England and the United States was booming.

There was an increasing demand for more commodious accommodations for

passengers who wanted to cross the Atlantic. To meet these demands, American ship

owners came up with something entirely new: packet service. The packets were the

first ships to sail on a regular schedule regardless of weather or the size of their cargo.

By catering to passenger comfort and convenience, they became immensely successful.

However, the packets needed to travel very fast to meet their schedules. As a result,

many of the captains drove their ships harshly, even in the most turbulent weather.

What is the meaning of commodious

as it is used in the paragraph?

By the early 1800s, trade between England and the United States was booming.

There was an increasing demand for more commodious accommodations for

passengers who wanted to cross the Atlantic. To meet these demands, American ship

owners came up with something entirely new: packet service. The packets were the

first ships to sail on a regular schedule regardless of weather or the size of their cargo.

By catering to passenger comfort and convenience, they became immensely successful.

However, the packets needed to travel very fast to meet their schedules. As a result,

many of the captains drove their ships harshly, even in the most turbulent weather.

Which word means the opposite

of turbulent in the paragraph?

Synonym:

reprehensible behavior

Synonym:

discerned some improvement

Antonym:

since the evidence clearly implicates the suspect

The original stories of King Arthur and his chivalrous Knights of the Round Table were the imaginative creations of twelfth- and thirteenth-century French writers of verse romances. The first great collection of Arthurian material in English, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, was based on these sources. Written in about 1470, Malory’s work, like its sources, contains a dearth of historical fact but a wealth of romantic detail.

Question: What does chivalrous most likely

mean as it is used in the paragraph?

The original stories of King Arthur and his chivalrous Knights of the Round Table were the imaginative creations of twelfth- and thirteenth-century French writers of verse romances. The first great collection of Arthurian material in English, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, was based on these sources. Written in about 1470, Malory’s work, like its sources, contains a dearth of historical fact but a wealth of romantic detail.

Question: Which word means the opposite of

dearth in the paragraph?

Although Arthur may have been based on an actual sixth-century Celtic chieftain, the figure of legend is far more than a military hero. In the course of the many works written about him, King Arthur has become a symbol of idealism, loyalty, and indomitable courage.

Question: What does indomitable most likely

mean as it is used in the paragraph?

Arthur is born in exceptional circumstances and grows up in obscurity. The son of King Uther Pendragon, the infant Arthur is placed in the care of the magician Merlin. Because Merlin is paid for his services, he is not entirely altruistic in the earlier versions of the story. His motives remain unclear in later versions as well.

Question: What is the meaning of altruistic as

it is used in the paragraph?

When King Uther dies without a clear successor, confusion reigns until a magic sword embedded in a stone is found. An inscription on the stone declares that only the rightful heir shall be able to remove the sword. Many nobles try unsuccessfully to remove the

sword. Arthur, knowing nothing of his parentage, has the temerity to step up to the stone and removes the sword easily. The nobles then recognize him as king. Arthur is mortally wounded in a battle with his enemy Mordred. The dying king is carried off into the mist on a barge to the mysterious island of Avalon. But according to the legend, Arthur may one day return.

Question: Which word is closest in meaning to

temerity as it is used in the paragraph?

a difference; a lack of agreement

sincere, real, without pretense

to express agreement; agreement

one who does good to others

Choose the SYNONYM:

remiss in performing their duties

Choose the ANTONYM:

a facile speaker

Amazing finds deep in an Egyptian desert confirm that, long before they took their first watery plunge, giant whales plodded the Earth on four legs. The remarkable Wadi Al-Hitan—Valley of the Whales—is an open-air museum in Egypt that contains hundreds of prehistoric whale fossils dispersed over a wide area.

What does plodded most likely mean

as it is used in paragraph 1?

Amazing finds deep in an Egyptian desert confirm that, long before they took their first watery plunge, giant whales plodded the Earth on four legs. The remarkable Wadi Al-Hitan—Valley of the Whales—is an open-air museum in Egypt that contains hundreds of prehistoric whale fossils dispersed over a wide area.

What is the meaning of dispersed as

it is used in paragraph 1?

The impressive collection of skeletal remains belongs to a long-extinct suborder of whales, Archaeoceti (“ancient whales”). Paleontologists have ascertained that the creatures, early ancestors of the modern-day aquatic whale, had short hind legs, making the discovery a key piece of the evolutionary puzzle.

What is the meaning of ascertained

as it is used in paragraph 2?

Wadi Al-Hitan is located about 90 miles southwest of Cairo. Until about 40 million years ago, the entire valley was submerged. The water gradually receded as shifts in tectonic plates pushed the land upward. The first whale fossils were discovered at the site in 1902, reposing under desert sands.

What does reposing most likely mean

as it is used in paragraph 3?

It is feasible that new discoveries will yield even more fascinating clues about the early terrestrial whales and how they adapted from walking on land to swimming in the ocean.

Which word means the opposite

of feasible in paragraph 4?

an accomplishment; the act of achieving

a hint, indirect suggestion

spiteful, showing ill will

comfort, relief; to comfort, console

extremely poisonous; full of malice

to examine closely

to tear up by the roots;

to destroy totally

a lack, scarcity

Synonym:

asked for clemency

Synonym:

the omniscient narrator

Synonym:

the car’s opulent interior

Synonym:

a cogent argument

Synonym:

a diffident young man

Synonym:

deployed the cavalry

Synonym:

brandished a club

Synonym:

gave us explicit directions

Synonym:

separated the adversaries

Synonym:

venal motives

Fascism may be said to have reached its __________ in 1941, when the Axis powers held sway over all of continental Europe.

During World War II, German U-boats___________ off the Atlantic coasts, lying in wait for allied convoys.

Although I’ve been trying to lose a few pounds for several months, so far my weight loss has been ________________.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish motives truly ________ in nature from those that stem from self-interest.