WK Practice Test 3: Synonyms, Suffixes, Word Senses

Answer: D

Correct answer: thorough. Exhaust can mean use up completely, and exhaustive describes covering every possibility. Checking every bolt, weld, and cable shows the inspection was thorough, not merely tiring.

• A: Hasty means rushed, which contradicts an inspection that covered every part.
• B: Tiring borrows the sense of exhaustion; the inspection may have been tiring, but the word describes its completeness.
• C: Partial means covering only some parts, the opposite of checking everything.
• D (correct): Exhaustive means leaving nothing relevant out, which matches checking every bolt, weld, and cable.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Construct again. RE- signals again and the base is build. Since the bridge was destroyed, the town plans to construct it again.

• A: Inspecting changes the core action from building to examining.
• B: Demolishing is the opposite of building and the bridge was already gone.
• C: Planning ahead of building would fit PRE-, not RE-.
• D (correct): RE- here means again, so rebuilding is building the bridge a second time.

Answer: A

Correct answer: brave. The ending -ous forms an adjective meaning having the quality named by the base. Having courage means being brave.

• A (correct): Courage plus -ous means having courage, which is brave.
• B: Courage is the noun base; courageous is an adjective, so the word class does not match.
• C: Cautious shares the -ous ending but means careful to avoid risk, which is a different quality.
• D: Fearful means full of fear, the opposite quality.

Answer: D

Correct answer: empty. Vacant means unoccupied or empty. Rented, quiet and dusty describe things that may go along with a place but do not mean empty.

• A: An unused building might gather dust, but that is a side effect, not what vacant means.
• B: An empty room may be quiet, but quiet is an association rather than the meaning.
• C: Rented describes a place someone has taken, which suggests it is occupied rather than vacant.
• D (correct): Vacant means not occupied or containing nothing, the same as empty.

Answer: A

Correct answer: calm. Pacify means to soothe or quiet someone who is angry or upset. Calm fits the sentence; provoke is the opposite, and question and ignore name different responses.

• A (correct): Pacify means to soothe someone who is upset, so calm is the closest match.
• B: Provoking someone stirs up anger, which is the opposite of pacifying.
• C: Asking questions might happen during the exchange, but it does not mean soothing.
• D: Ignoring the passenger would not be an attempt to soothe him.

Answer: C

Correct answer: insignificant. A negligible drop is real but too small to matter for the purpose at hand. Insignificant fits; nonexistent overstates it as zero.

• A: The sentence says there was a drop, so it is not zero; negligible means small, not absent.
• B: Severe is the opposite, and no pump changes were needed.
• C (correct): Negligible means so small it can be ignored for the purpose at hand, which insignificant matches.
• D: Gradual describes how slowly a change happens, not how large it is.

Answer: C

Correct answer: complete. Cover -ize to find final, meaning last. The verb ending -ize means to make or cause to become, so finalize means to make final, or complete. The answer must be a verb, which rules out final.

• A: Revise means change or correct, which could happen before finishing but is not the same as completing.
• B: Final is the adjective base; after "will" the sentence needs a verb.
• C (correct): The ending -ize means to make, so finalize means to make final, that is, to complete.
• D: Begin work on means start, the opposite of putting the last touches on something.

Answer: C

Correct answer: hurtfully blunt. Tactless means saying something direct without care for how it will hurt others. Tactless adds needless hurt to blunt, which is why hurtfully blunt is the exact match.

• A: Truthfulness is not the issue; tactless adds the criticism that the remark wounds someone for no good reason.
• B: A shy person avoids speaking up, but this guest made a loud announcement.
• C (correct): Tactless describes speech that is direct in a way that needlessly hurts feelings, as this remark does.
• D: Physical clumsiness means awkward movement, such as dropping things; tactless is about careless words.

Answer: D

Correct answer: flexibility. Adapt means adjust, and -ability names a capacity, so adaptability is the capacity to adjust. With priorities changing weekly, flexibility is the best synonym.

• A: Obedience adds a judgment about following orders that the base adapt does not carry.
• B: Constancy means staying the same, which is the opposite of adjusting to weekly shifts.
• C: Modification is a single change already made, the sense of adaptation, not the ongoing capacity to adjust.
• D (correct): Adaptability is the capacity to adjust as conditions change, which is what flexibility means.

Answer: B

Correct answer: logical and clear. Define the target before reading the negation. Coherent means logical and clear; hardly tells us the instructions were not coherent, which is why choosing confusing and vague would be a polarity trap.

• A: Printing has nothing to do with whether ideas fit together sensibly.
• B (correct): Coherent means well organized and easy to follow; the word hardly reverses the claim, not the definition.
• C: This describes the instructions as the whole sentence presents them, but it is the opposite of what coherent itself means.
• D: Length and simplicity are not the meaning of coherent; brief instructions can still be disorganized.

Answer: B

Correct answer: halt. The object of CHECK is "the spread," and the tool is a trench, which blocks fire. Check here means halt; inspect is the primary-definition trap.

• A: Inspect is the everyday sense of check, but a trench stops a fire rather than examining it.
• B (correct): A trench blocks a fire's path, so "to halt the spread" is exactly the purpose.
• C: Checking off or marking an item fits a list, not a spreading fire.
• D: Testing would study the fire; digging a trench is done to stop it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: unconcerned. The phrase "as though the inspection hardly mattered" describes his tone as casual and unconcerned. The word "yet" then contrasts that tone with careful actions, so careless and precise both describe the wrong thing.

• A: Nothing in the sentence suggests annoyance or anger.
• B: Tempting, but his actions were thorough; "yet" contrasts his relaxed tone with careful work, so he was not careless.
• C: Precise describes how he checked the bunks, which the sentence contrasts with his tone.
• D (correct): "As though the inspection hardly mattered" restates a casual, unconcerned tone.

Answer: D

Correct answer: bring about. Induce comes from in- plus duc (lead), and its modern meaning is cause. The warning to drivers shows that the medicine can bring about drowsiness.

• A: Preventing drowsiness entirely would be a benefit, not a reason to warn drivers.
• B: Duc means lead, but a medicine does not guide drowsiness along a route; the literal sense does not fit.
• C: Reduce shares the duc letters but means make smaller, which contradicts the warning on the label.
• D (correct): Induce means cause, and the warning shows the medicine can cause drowsiness.

Answer: C

Correct answer: soften. Temper has several senses, including treating metal and moderating something. With the object anger and the clue of a calm speech, it means to soften or moderate.

• A: This is the metalworking sense of temper, which does not apply to a crew's anger.
• B: This is the opposite of calming the crew with a measured speech.
• C (correct): As a verb applied to feelings, temper means to moderate or tone down, which fits a calm speech.
• D: This links temper to temperature, but the sentence is about easing anger, not measuring it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: formally record; cash machine. In A, REGISTER is a verb with "each visitor" as its object, so it means enter in a formal record. In B, it is a noun that jams and replaces receipts, so it is a cash register. Only the pair that keeps that A-then-B order is right.

• A: B is right, but register as a style of language does not fit signing in visitors in A.
• B: A is right, but a list cannot jam or force a cashier to write receipts by hand in B.
• C: Both meanings are right, but they are reversed; the order must match A then B.
• D (correct): Visitors are entered into a record in A, and a device that jams and makes a cashier write receipts by hand in B is a cash register.