Word Knowledge · Practice test 5

Correct answer: advance

To forge ahead is to keep moving forward steadily, so advance fits. Retreat means the opposite direction.

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Correct answer: quick

Swift means fast, so quick is the direct match. Sudden is close but describes something starting without warning rather than moving fast.

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Correct answer: dive

To plunge is to move suddenly and steeply downward, so dive is the closest match. Rise names the opposite direction.

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Correct answer: opaque

Transparent material can be seen straight through, so opaque, which blocks light entirely, is the opposite. Translucent is the sharpest trap: it lets light through but scatters it, so it sits between the two rather than opposite.

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Correct answer: hearing

The Latin root aud means to hear, so something audible can be heard and an auditorium is a place for listening. The same root gives audience and audio.

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Correct answer: brief

Concise means saying much in few words, so brief fits the briefing described. Detailed is the trap, since a concise account can still be complete but is never long-winded.

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Correct answer: strict

A stern look or a stern warning allows no argument, so strict is the closest meaning. The word also names the back of a ship, an unrelated sense.

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Correct answer: severe

Harsh weather or a harsh penalty is hard to bear, so severe is the closest match.

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Correct answer: built-in

An inherent risk belongs to the activity itself and cannot be separated from it, so built-in is the closest match. Inherited is the trap: it sounds similar but means passed down from someone else.

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Correct answer: skill

A knack is a natural skill for doing something with ease, so skill is the closest match.

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Correct answer: inborn

An innate ability is one a person is born with, so inborn is the match. Acquired names the opposite, something gained through experience.

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Correct answer: ammunition

Munitions are the weapons and ammunition used by armed forces, so ammunition is the closest match.

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Correct answer: burn

To scorch is to burn the surface of something without consuming it, as a hot iron does to cloth.

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Correct answer: identification of a problem

A diagnosis names what is wrong, whether the subject is a patient or an engine. The other choices are all things that follow a diagnosis rather than the diagnosis itself.

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Correct answer: stick to

Adhere has a physical sense, to stick fast to a surface, and a figurative one, to follow a rule closely. Rules and regulations take the figurative sense, so stick to is correct.

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Correct answer: produce

Applied to a field and a crop, yield means to produce a harvest. The surrender sense of yield does not fit a field.

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Correct answer: courageous

Brave describes someone who faces danger without giving in to fear, so courageous is the closest match. Timid is the opposite trait.

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Correct answer: bright

Vivid describes something strikingly bright or intense, as in a vivid red or a vivid memory. Dull is its opposite.

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Correct answer: obvious

Obscure means hard to see or hard to understand, so obvious is its opposite. Vague, dim, and hidden all move in the same direction as obscure.

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Correct answer: peak

The summit is the top of a mountain, so peak is the closest match. Valley names the low ground instead.

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Correct answer: a verb meaning to make pure

The suffix -ify turns an adjective into a verb meaning to make that quality happen, so pure becomes purify, meaning to make pure. The same pattern gives simple and simplify.

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Correct answer: practical

A pragmatic approach asks what will actually work rather than what ought to work in theory, so practical is the match.

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Correct answer: thorough

Rigorous testing leaves nothing unchecked, so thorough is the closest meaning. Hasty describes the opposite approach.

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Correct answer: moist

Damp means a little wet, short of soaked, so moist is the closest match.

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Correct answer: bad or faulty

The prefix mal- carries the sense of bad or wrong, so a malfunction is a faulty operation and malpractice is bad professional conduct. Recognising it lets you guess unfamiliar words such as malnourished.

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Correct answer: favourable

Conditions conducive to corrosion are ones that help it along, so favourable is the closest match. The word is neutral about whether the result is good, and here the result is plainly bad.

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Correct answer: peek

A glimpse is a brief, partial view of something, so peek is the closest match. Stare implies a long, fixed look, the opposite duration.

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Correct answer: across or through

Trans- carries something over or through: to transmit is to send across, and a transatlantic flight crosses the ocean. The same prefix gives transfer and transparent.

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Correct answer: postpone

In committee procedure, to table a motion is to set it aside for later, so postpone fits. The furniture sense of table does not apply here.

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Correct answer: cautious

A prudent decision is one made with careful thought about the risks, so cautious is the closest meaning.

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Correct answer: gap

A breach in a wall or defense is an opening made in it, so gap is the closest match.

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Correct answer: disappear

To vanish is to go out of sight all at once, so disappear is the direct match. Shrink means getting smaller while remaining visible.

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Correct answer: redirect

Traffic sent around a work zone is turned onto another route, so redirect fits. Halt would mean stopping it altogether, which the sentence does not say.

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Correct answer: doubtful

Skeptical means holding doubt until proof is offered, which is why the engineer asked for test data rather than simply refusing the claim outright.

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Correct answer: savage

A fierce animal or a fierce storm attacks with violent force, so savage is the closest match.

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