Word Knowledge Practice Test 6 for the ASVAB

Answer: D

Correct answer: dismal. Bleak means gloomy or without hope of improvement. Dismal is a clean ordinary synonym, while stormy adds a specific story that the sentence never states.

• A: This only resembles bleak in spelling; blank means empty or unmarked.
• B: This is the opposite of a discouraging forecast.
• C: This invents a specific weather detail; the sentence only says the outlook was discouraging.
• D (correct): Bleak describes a gloomy, discouraging outlook, which dismal also expresses.

Answer: A

Correct answer: believable. Cred- means believe and -ible means able to be. A credible account is believable, while credulous describes someone who believes too easily.

• A (correct): Cred- relates to belief and -ible means able to be, so a credible account can be believed.
• B: This describes a credulous person; credible describes a claim that deserves belief.
• C: Length has nothing to do with cred-, which concerns belief.
• D: Being in writing would suggest a scrib or script word, not cred-.

Answer: C

Correct answer: record keeper. The phrase set off by commas renames the noun: an archivist is the staff member who preserves old records, so record keeper is the closest meaning.

• A: This picks up the topic of buildings while ignoring the phrase that actually defines the role.
• B: A guide leads visitors; nothing in the sentence mentions visitors or showing people around.
• C (correct): The appositive between the commas renames the archivist as the person who preserves old records.
• D: Building plans suggest engineering, but the renaming phrase describes keeping records, not designing structures.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Guessed too high. OVER- means too much and the base is estimate. Empty chairs show the planners expected more people than came, so they guessed too high.

• A: Checking again is a RE- idea and says nothing about the estimate being too large.
• B: An exact count would not leave half the chairs unused.
• C (correct): OVER- signals excess, so the planners' estimate was larger than the actual crowd.
• D: Too low would be UNDERESTIMATED, and too low a guess would leave people standing, not chairs empty.

Answer: D

Correct answer: After surgery. POST- means after and operative refers to an operation. Wound care at home follows surgery, so postoperative means after surgery.

• A: Before surgery would be preoperative; POST- means after.
• B: An alternative to surgery is not suggested by POST- or by the sentence.
• C: During the operation is a different time; wound care at home happens later.
• D (correct): POST- means after, so postoperative refers to the period following an operation.

Answer: D

Correct answer: slippery. The practical action is the clue: crews spread sand to give footing. That remedy makes sense only for a slippery floor.

• A: A hangar floor is flat, and sand would not change its slope.
• B: Spreading sand would add grit, not solve dust, so this does not fit the action taken.
• C: Sand does not repair cracks, so the remedy in the sentence does not match this problem.
• D (correct): Sand gives traction, and putting it down before people walk across shows the floor was slippery.

Answer: C

Correct answer: outdated. Predict first: obsolete means out of date, replaced by something newer. Outdated matches that prediction, while broken, expensive and complicated are possible traits that the word does not state.

• A: Complexity is a different property; a simple system can also be obsolete.
• B: An old system may break down, but obsolete systems can still work; broken adds a condition not in the word.
• C (correct): Obsolete means no longer current or in general use, which outdated captures.
• D: Cost is unrelated to whether something is out of date.

Answer: B

Correct answer: bold. Audacious means boldly daring, sometimes to the point of seeming disrespectful. The rookie speaks up at a first meeting with a risky idea, so bold matches the meaning; foolish adds an unsupported verdict on the idea itself.

• A: Nothing in the sentence suggests lying or trickery; this imports a negative trait the evidence does not show.
• B (correct): Audacious means daringly bold, willing to take a big risk or break with custom, like a rookie challenging the company's top product.
• C: The proposal may be risky, but foolish passes judgment on the idea, while audacious describes the daring of making it.
• D: A shy rookie would stay quiet at a first meeting; this is the opposite.

Answer: C

Correct answer: watchful. Swap each choice into the sentence. The sentry stayed watchful keeps the meaning of staying alert; drowsy reverses it, and heavily armed and posted add different facts.

• A: Drowsy means sleepy, the opposite of alert.
• B: A sentry may carry weapons, but heavily armed is an association, not the meaning.
• C (correct): Vigilant means alert and on the lookout, so the sentry stayed watchful keeps the meaning.
• D: Posted states where the sentry was placed, which is a different fact.

Answer: D

Correct answer: reinforced. Fortify means to strengthen, especially for protection. Extra concrete and steel rods before a hurricane are clues to reinforcement; repaired invents damage the sentence never mentions.

• A: Adding concrete and steel changes the wall rather than just checking its size.
• B: Repaired implies the wall was damaged; the sentence only says workers made it stronger before storms arrived.
• C: The materials could add height, but the sentence stresses strength, not height.
• D (correct): Fortify means to make stronger against attack or damage, as adding concrete and steel does.

Answer: B

Correct answer: examines closely. Spect relates to looking. A crew chief who inspects the landing gear examines it closely for problems, which is more exact than simply watching it.

• A: This fits a spectator better; inspect means a careful, purposeful look.
• B (correct): Spect means look, and inspect means to look carefully at something to check its condition.
• C: Replacing a part is a different action; spect points to looking, not swapping.
• D: Repairing is a separate job that may follow an inspection; the word itself means looking closely.

Answer: D

Correct answer: inexpensive. Economic and economical share a base but differ in meaning: economic relates to the economy, while economical means saving money. A commuting method that saves money is inexpensive.

• A: Financial matches economic (relating to the economy), not economical, which stresses saving money.
• B: Quick describes speed, which the word economical does not address.
• C: Carpooling may help the environment, but economical refers to cost, not pollution.
• D (correct): Economical means using money carefully, so an economical way to commute is inexpensive.

Answer: B

Correct answer: found a fair compromise. The phrase links two competing goals, cost and safety, so it is used figuratively. To strike a balance is to settle on a fair compromise between them.

• A: This takes strike and balance literally, which a design cannot do.
• B (correct): The idiom means arriving at a reasonable middle ground between two competing needs.
• C: Strike can mean find, and balance can mean money left over, but neither fits a design trade-off.
• D: A design that weighs cost against safety settles on a middle point rather than avoiding a decision.

Answer: A

Correct answer: rigidly opinionated. Refusing to read studies that disagree shows intellectual rigidity, not admirable persistence. Dogmatic means rigidly opinionated, so the positive words resolute and tenacious miss the criticism.

• A (correct): Dogmatic describes treating one's beliefs as beyond question, which fits rejecting challenges unread.
• B: A skeptic asks for evidence, but the professor refuses to look at evidence at all.
• C: Resolute praises firm purpose, but the sentence criticizes refusing to consider evidence.
• D: Tenacious means persistent despite obstacles, an admirable trait that misses the closed-minded refusal shown here.

Answer: D

Correct answer: concluded. A speaker implies, while a listener or observer infers by drawing a conclusion from evidence. The technician read the gauge and reached a judgment, so concluded is correct.

• A: Guessing blindly means using no evidence, but the technician reasoned from a steadily dropping gauge.
• B: Denied means refused to accept, which reverses the technician's judgment that a leak existed.
• C: Implied is the speaker's act of hinting; the technician is the one interpreting the evidence, so infer and imply swap roles.
• D (correct): To infer is to reach a conclusion from evidence, as the technician did from the falling gauge.