Word Knowledge Practice Test 2

Answer: A

Correct answer: limiting. Restrict means limit, and the adjective restrictive describes something that imposes limits. A dress code that permits almost no personal choice is limiting.

• A (correct): Restrictive describes something that imposes limits, and a code allowing almost no choice is limiting.
• B: Relaxed means loose or easygoing, the opposite of a code that allows almost no choice.
• C: Unpredictable means hard to anticipate, which has nothing to do with limiting choices.
• D: Restriction is the noun for a limit or rule; it names a thing rather than describing the dress code.

Answer: D

Correct answer: relating to heat inside the earth. Split geothermal into geo- (earth) and therm- (heat). Together they describe heat found within the earth, as in geothermal energy.

• A: Water would point to hydro- or aqua-, not to geo- and therm-.
• B: This describes geology; it uses geo- but leaves out the heat idea that therm- adds.
• C: Sunlight would point to a light or solar root; therm- here means heat and geo- places it in the earth.
• D (correct): Geo- means earth and therm- means heat, so the word describes heat that comes from within the earth.

Answer: B

Correct answer: practice exercise. The collocation "fire drill" plus the purpose "so everyone learns the exit routes" signal rehearsal. DRILL here means a practice exercise.

• A: A drill can be a tool for making holes, but "fire drill" and "learns the exit routes" point to training.
• B (correct): A fire drill is a rehearsal of an evacuation, so "practice exercise" fits the purpose of learning exits.
• C: An actual fire would not be scheduled twice a year; the drill imitates one for practice.
• D: An inspection checks equipment, while the sentence says people practice the exit routes.

Answer: A

Correct answer: rip. TEAR here is a verb with the object "wallpaper," so it rhymes with "air" and means to rip. Swap it in: "so you do not rip the old wallpaper" keeps the meaning.

• A (correct): Tape pulled too fast can rip the paper, and "rip" swaps cleanly into the sentence.
• B: This is the sense that rhymes with "ear" (a drop from the eye), which makes no sense with wallpaper as the object.
• C: Covering the wallpaper is not a risk of pulling tape off; the sentence warns about damage.
• D: Smoothing would improve the wallpaper, but the warning "so you do not" points to harm.

Answer: C

Correct answer: set to show the same time. Peel off syn, together, and find chron, time. To synchronize watches is to make them show the same time so the team can act together.

• A: Winding a watch keeps it running, but the word is built from together plus time, not tension.
• B: Inspecting the watches fits the setting loosely, but nothing in syn or chron means checking.
• C (correct): Syn means together and chron means time, so the leaders made their watches agree on the time.
• D: New watches are not the point; the root chron shows the action concerns time.

Answer: B

Correct answer: polluted. "Because" links a cause to an effect. The medic threw the water out and took clean water, so the fuel must have spoiled it. CONTAMINATED means polluted or made impure.

• A: The canteen still held water that the medic had to pour out, so it was not already empty.
• B (correct): Fuel mixed into water makes it unsafe, which explains why the medic dumped it and used clean water instead.
• C: This is the opposite; purified water would not need to be dumped and replaced with clean water.
• D: Temperature is never mentioned; the clue is about fuel getting into the water.

Answer: D

Correct answer: See-through. Trans- means through or across, and the base relates to appearing. Glass that lets the mechanic see the fluid without opening the bottle is see-through.

• A: Colorful glass might still block the view; the clue is that the fluid could be seen through it.
• B: Mirrored glass reflects light back, which would hide the fluid.
• C: Thick and heavy describe strength or size, not whether light passes through.
• D (correct): Trans- means through, so transparent glass lets light and sight pass through it.

Answer: A

Correct answer: secret. Clandestine means done in secret, often to avoid being caught. The lookout and changing meeting place are clues to secrecy; illegal is a frequent association, not the meaning.

• A (correct): Clandestine means kept hidden, which explains the lookout and the changing location.
• B: The meetings were weekly, but clandestine refers to how hidden they were, not how often they happened.
• C: Clandestine activities are often against the rules, but the word itself means secret, not unlawful.
• D: Nothing in the sentence says how many people attended.

Answer: A

Correct answer: imaginative. Creative describes a quality of mind, not an object that was made. The design combined images in a new way, which shows imagination, so the answer is imaginative.

• A (correct): Creative describes an idea showing imagination, matching a design that combined images in a new way.
• B: Manufactured means produced, which points to the act of making something, not the imagination the design shows.
• C: Creation is the noun for the thing made; it cannot describe a design.
• D: Conventional means ordinary or traditional, the opposite of mixing elements in a new way.

Answer: C

Correct answer: distrustful of motives. The clue is that the clerk assumes bad intentions in every case. Cynical means distrustful of people's motives, so distrustful of motives is the exact match.

• A: Sarcastic describes mocking speech; the clerk's problem is his assumption about people, not his way of talking.
• B: Cautious means careful to avoid risk; it is neutral, while cynical assumes bad motives in everyone.
• C (correct): Cynical describes someone who expects the worst of other people's intentions, like assuming every refund request is a scam.
• D: This describes pragmatic; assuming every customer is a cheat is not about being realistic or doing what works.

Answer: C

Correct answer: damaging. Destroy changes to destruct before -ive, an adjective ending meaning tending to do the action. So destructive winds tend to destroy things. Among the adjectives, damaging fits; destroyed would describe the roofs, not the winds.

• A: Destroyed is a past participle describing something already ruined, not winds that cause ruin.
• B: Destruction is the noun; the target describes the noun winds, so it is an adjective.
• C (correct): The -ive ending means tending to do the action, so destructive means tending to destroy, which is damaging.
• D: Protective uses the same ending on the opposite idea, tending to protect.

Answer: B

Correct answer: severely plain. Bare walls, hard benches and no heat show stark simplicity without comfort. Austere means severely plain; no details suggest structural decay.

• A: Showily decorated is the opposite of bare walls and hard benches.
• B (correct): Austere means severely simple and lacking comforts, which fits bare walls, hard benches and no heat.
• C: Neglect would mean decay, but the details show deliberate simplicity, not damage.
• D: Cozy suggests comfort, which the lack of heat and hard benches contradicts.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Every two years. BI- signals two, but the prefix alone does not show whether it means twice a year or every two years. The dates settle it: 2024 to 2026 is a two-year gap, so biennial means every two years.

• A (correct): Biennial means once every two years, which matches the gap from 2024 to 2026.
• B: Yearly would be annual, which would put the next conference in 2025.
• C: Three years would point to a TRI- word and would set the next one in 2027.
• D: Twice a year is biannual, the BI- word that is easy to confuse with biennial.

Answer: D

Correct answer: relevant. Pertinent means relating directly to the subject being discussed. Relevant fits 'pertinent to the cooling problem'; rude comes from confusing it with impertinent, accurate is a different quality, and lengthy is unrelated.

• A: This is the meaning of the look-alike word impertinent, not pertinent.
• B: The length of the remarks is not what pertinent describes.
• C: Remarks can be correct but off the topic; pertinent is about relevance, not correctness.
• D (correct): Pertinent means directly connected to the matter at hand, which relevant expresses.

Answer: A

Correct answer: foul. RANK sits before "smell" as an adjective, and the result "made the kitchen staff gag" signals an awful odor. Rank here means foul; the military-level sense is a noun and does not fit.

• A (correct): Rank as an adjective about odor means strong and offensive, which is why the staff gagged.
• B: A faint smell would not make anyone gag, so this is the opposite of the clue.
• C: Rank as a noun means an official level, as in military rank, which cannot describe a smell.
• D: A familiar smell might be noticed, but the reaction "made the staff gag" shows disgust.