Sentence Completions   1. Her concern for the earthquake victims _________ her reputation as a callous person.  A. restored 

Sentence Completions (Practice) 1. Her concern for the earthquake victims _________ her reputation as a callous person. A. restored B. rescinded C. created D. proved E. belied 2. The author presumably believes that all businessmen are _________, for her main characters, whatever qualities they may lack, are virtual paragons of _________. A. clever . . . ingenuity B. covetous . . . greed C. virtuous . . . deceit D. successful . . . ambition E. cautious . . . achievement 3. Lacking sacred scriptures or __________, Shinto is more properly regarded as a legacy of traditional practices and basic values than as a formal system of belief. A. followers B. customs C. dogma D. relics E. faith 4. Male sperm whales are normally _________ creatures; however, when they are jealously guarding their territory, they have been known to _______ ships. A. docile . . . attack B. aggressive . . . strike C. large . . . assault D. peaceful . . . ignore E. powerful . . . assail 5. Her charisma was a double‐edged sword; in her friends, it aroused both admiration and __________. A. envy B. laudation C. equanimity D. obstinacy E. affection Sentence Completion Answers & Explanations 1. E Callous means unfeeling, uncaring, but if this person has concern for the earthquake victims, her reputation must be an unfounded one, so the correct choice will mean contradicted or proved false. This is one of the meanings of belied, correct choice E. B, rescinded is the second best answer. It means revoked or withdrawn, but you don't say that a reputation is rescinded. A, C, and D are the opposite of what we're looking for — they don't make sense in this context. 2. A The author mentioned in this sentence believes that businessmen are models of some quality; whatever qualities they may lack implies that whatever bad points they possess, there's this one particular good thing about them. All of this should lead you to A — if an author's main characters are businessmen, and if they're all paragons of "ingenuity" (meaning inventively talented), one could easily be led to the presumption that the author thinks all businessmen are "clever." Several of the wrong answers play off your possible biases about people in the business world, B being the most blatant in that regard. That choice is tempting only because an author's use of many "greedy" businessman characters might suggest that the author thinks all businessmen are "covetous." But labeling businessmen as greedy contradicts the sense of "whatever qualities they may lack" — as we noted, we need a positive quality (also, paragons of greed is awkward). One who is morally upright or "virtuous" C would hardly be a paragon of "deceit" (lying, falseness). Characters possesing great "ambition", D, wouldn't necessarily make one presume that the author believes all such people are "successful," since ambition and success in a field don't always go hand in hand; and there's even less connection between businessman characters who demonstrate great "achievement", E, and a conclusion that, in the author's opinion, all businessmen are "cautious." 3. C We're looking for something that goes with sacred scriptures and implies a formal system of belief, but something whose absence doesn't rule out a legacy of traditional religious practices and basic values. We can eliminate choices A, B, and E because if Shinto lacked followers, customs, or faith it wouldn't be a legacy of traditional religious practices and basic values. Relics, D, are sacred objects but relics don't make something a formal system of beliefs. The best choice is C — a dogma is a formal religious belief. 4. A The first blank here will be filled with a word that describes what type of creatures male sperm whales normally are. The word "however" between these clauses indicates that a contrasting point will be made — these whales are normally something, but sometimes can be different. A clue in the second clause helps us figure this one out. In the second clause, we learn that something happens when the whales are jealously guarding their territory. They probably act agressively or violently when guarding their territory, so the first blank will be a contrast to this. It must suggest that whales are not normally violent. The second blank will be filled with a word that tells us what the whales do to ships when are are guarding their territory. A good prephrase for this answer would be "these whales are normally peaceful creatures; however when guarding their territory, they have been known to sink ships. Starting with the first blank, two choices look good right away, A and D. A also looks good for the second blank, while the second word in D is the opposite of what we need. Quickly checking the other choices, we see that B the words aren't contradictory, and we need words that are opposite in meaning. C and E can be eliminated because each is a descriptive word that relates to the whale's physical characteristics rather than its temperament. So the answer is A. 5. A A major sign here is the semicolon between the two clauses, signaling a continuation or consistency between the two parts. If her charisma is a double‐edged sword, then it has contrasting points — good aspects and bad. The clause after the semicolon will elaborate on or give an example of these conflicting sides. In the second clause, we find that even in those who like her, her charisma arouses admiration, which would be the good side of the sword, and something else, which must be the bad side. This blank must be filled with a negative word. A prephrase here might be: "Her charisma provoked both admiration and dislike in her friends." Only two choices here have negative meanings, A and D. A makes the most sense since charisma could easily invoke envy in others. D, obstinacy, is negative as well but means stubbornness; this answer does not make sense in the sentence. The remaining choices can be ruled out because they are positive in meaning, so the answer is A.