Vocal Level F - Sentences (Ch. 8-15)
He was willing to compromise on many issues, but elimination of the ridiculous requirements for those jobs was the one point on which he was absolutely ___.
adamant (firm in purpose or opinion)
Our coach is ___ that we not drink sugary sports drinks before a game and insists that we hydrate only with water.
adamant (firm in purpose or opinion)
I came to realize that the demure little woman who never raised her voice had a will of pure _____.
adamant. (firm in purpose or opinion)
Our dean is a strict disciplinarian, but I have always found her ____ to reasonable requests.
amenable
When my stubborn younger brother proved so ___ to my request, I began to suspect that he had some special reason for wanting to please me.
amenable
When they offered to help him, he proudly ___ that he could handle the situation on his own.
averred
Although Gone with the Wind won a Pulitzer Prize, critics often ___ the novel for its stereotypical portrayals of African Americans.
berate
You deserve to be severely ___ for your misbehavior during such a solemn ceremony.
berated
Instead of constantly ___ the children, why don't you try to explain equity and clearly how you expect them to behave.
berating
Although police identified the perpetrator using fingerprints, DNA, and video footage, he __ denied that he had committed the crime.
blatantly
His parents are such sensitive people that I'm not at all sure how I should ___ the news of his injury to them.
broach
I was surprised that so trivial an incident should have provided such a fearful ____ in the popular press.
brouhaha (a confused hodgepodge of sounds, an uproar or commotion)
The recent ___ over the choice of a host for our local beauty pageant seemed to me nothing more than a "tempest in a teapot."
brouhaha (a confused hodgepodge of sounds, an uproar or commotion)
Although we must have armed forces to protect the country, the most important ___ of national security is the devotion of the people to our democratic institutions.
bulwark (a strong defense or protection)
The scientific method stands as a(n) ___ against the tides of irrationality and superstition.
bulwark (a strong defense or protection)
It is difficult to imagine the ____ that would result from an all-out was fought with nuclear weapons.
carnage
The ___ caused each year by careless driving has become a major national scandal.
carnage
His constance blustering and ___ behavior may be no more than an unconscious attempt to conceal his lack of self-confidence.
choleric (easily made angry, bad-tempered)
I think that the phrase "having a short fuse" aptly describes my new boss's ___ and curmudgeonly disposition.
choleric (easily made angry, bad-tempered)
Her unvarying sweetness, like a diet composed entirely of desserts, does begin to ___ after a while.
cloy(to spoil or destroy an appetite by too much indulgence)
How can you watch those silly reruns of old family shows day after day without being ____ by their gooey sentimentality?
cloyed (to spoil or destroy an appetite by too much indulgence)
I don't know anything about riches and shuffles, but I'm true ___ when it comes to pizza.
connoisseur
The more ___ you are, the easier it will be for swindlers and con artists to hoodwink you.
credulous
Vic is so ____ that he actually believed me when I said that I had invented an automatic composition writing machine.
credulous
The sales manager said she would apply only one ___ when assessing my plan for an advertising campaign: "Will it sell more mouthwash?"
criterion
Usefulness is not the only ___ for including words in this book, but it is the primary one.
criterion
When the chairperson saw that the speakers were becoming more heated, without offering any new facts or ideas to clarify the situation, she decided to ____ the discussion period.
curtail (to cut short)
When we received bad news from home, we had to ___ our vacation and return a few days earlier than planned.
curtail (to cut short)
The special privileges extended to the senior class have not been entirely withdrawn, but they have been sharply ___ for the rest of the term.
curtailed (to cut short)
I am surprised that she now shows such exaggerated ____ to people whose "aristocratic" pretensions she has always regarded with contempt.
deference (courteous yielding to the wishes and ideas of another person)
In ____ to the wishes of widow, the funeral services will be brief, and no eulogy will be delivered.
deference (courteous yielding to the wishes and ideas of another person)
There are so many aspects to Shakespeare that there will ever by a truly ___ study of his work.
definitive (conclusive, final)
We are still looking for a(n) ___ answer to the question of whether or not our prisons can rehabilitate as well as punish.
definitive (conclusive, final)
We all admired her _____, which was dignified without any suggestion of superiority or stuffiness.
demeanor ((the way a person behaves)
His aggressive and suspicious ___ led the detectives to suspect that he was more involved with the crime than he alleged.
demeanor (the way a person behaves)
Throughout the trial she maintained a(n) ______ of quiet dignity and confidence that made a favorable impression of the jury.
demeanor (the way a person behaves)
My last date turned out to be such an expensive affair that my funds were sadly __ for the rest of the month.
depleted
The prolonged drought has so ___ the supplies in our reservoir that we may have to consider rationing water.
depleted
What could be more ___ than the long drive home on a rainy night after we had lost the championship game by one point!
disconsolate
You will never be able to complete this challenging hike if you ___ yourself with so much "essential equipment."
encumber
Expressing hy mystification at the Soviet Union, Churchill referred to it as a "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an ___."
enigma (puzzling, perplexing, inexplicable)
Though my sister has many close friends she is a(n) ___ who is reluctant to share her private thoughts and feelings.
enigma (puzzling, perplexing, inexplicable)
The circumstances surrounding the death are ____ that the police are not even sure that a crime was committed.
enigmatic (puzzling, perplexing, in explicable)
It's painful to have to listen to him _____ on his own virtues when I'm dying to give some fascinating details about my own life and accomplishments.
expatiate
Although he ____ fluently on the need for a new community action program, I have yet to see him do anything to bring it about.
expatiates
Her instructions told me exactly what I wanted to know, without a single ___ detail.
extraneous
My rules for effective writing ar, "Emphasize what is essential, play down what is secondary, eliminate what is ___."
extraneous
Far from being ___, all those jokes and wisecracks you hear on TV talk shows are usually prepared by professional writers and are carefully rehearsed.
impromptu (without preparation, offhand)
The candidate seems much more human and appealing when she delivers a(n) ______ speech than when she reads a prepared text.
impromptu (without preparation, offhand)
The opening of our show took place most ___ in the midst of a transit strike and a record-breaking snowstorm.
inauspiciously
At the very ___ of my career, I set the goals and adopted the base strategies that were to guide me through many years of outstanding success.
inception
At the very ____ of his administration the new president announced a list of the objectives he homed to accomplish.
inception
Since it ____, the electric guitar has been a symbol of innovation, energy, and rebellion.
inception
What we need is not opinions or "educated guesses" but ___ proof that can stand up under the closest examination.
incontrovertible
One of the benefits I gained from my summer job in the new hospital was leaning to be patient with people suffering from various types of ______
infirmities
Few things are more tragic than to see a great mind fall victim to a serious ______.
infirmity
"How do you expect your mind to grow when you feed it solely on the ___ pap that comes out of the television?" I asked pointedly.
jejune
A well-known actor submitted his poems to a publisher, who deemed the verses ___ and tedious.
jejune
You cannot dismiss everything he says as ____ simply because he is young and lacks experience of the world.
jejune
As first, I was glad to see my old classmate again, but he embarrassed me with his _____ talk about "those wonderful, golden school days."
mawkish (excessively and objectively sentimental)
I am a great admirer of Charles Dickens, but even I must admit that the death of Little Nell in The Old Curiosity shop is too ____ to be truly effective.
mawkish (excessively and objectively sentimental)
By getting the students to apologize for their thoughtless discourtesy, we ___ the anger of the elderly elevator operator.
mollified (to soften, to calm, allay)
Her bitter anger was eventually ___ by our skillful appear to her vanity.
mollified (to soften, to calm, allay)
In spite of all our efforts to appeal to whatever human sympathies the kidnappers might have, they remained _____.
obdurate
What disturbs the coach is not that Tom called the wrong play but that he refuses ____ to admit that he made a mistake.
obdurately
Let us place the ____ for the defeat where it belongs - on each and every one of us!
onus (something that is heavy or burdensome)
Somehow, whenever more money is needed for our club activities, the ____ of raising it always seems to fail on me.
onus (something that is heavy or burdensome)
If you are going to wait for an occasion that seems ___ one every respect, then in all probability you will have to wait forever.
opportune
I think the class show will be much more effective if it has a constant theme running through it, instead of being just a ___ of songs, dance, and sketches.
potpourri
Our reading program this term is a delightful ___ of stories, essays, poetry, and drama from many different periods.
potpourri
Any child who can read at the age of three must be considered remarkably ______.
precocious
Given the kinds of tools the ancient Egyptians had to work with, the construction of the pyramids was an extraordinarily ___ feat of engineering.
precocious
By talking so much about your ___ that "we're going to have an accident," you are making me nervous and preventing me from driving properly.
presentiment (a vague sense of approaching misfortune)
When you have a feeling that something is about to happen, you may unconsciously act in a way that will help the ___ to come true.
presentiment (a vague sense of approaching misfortune)
After years of ___ living, he experienced a profound change of heart and devoted the txt of his life to serving humanity.
profligate (given over to dissipation and self-indulgence)
He was so ___ with his inheritance that he consumed in a few years the fortune it had taken his parents a lifetime to accumulate.
profligate (given over to dissipation and self-indulgence)
Very few poems by Emily Dickinson were published during her lifetime, but she was nevertheless a ___ poet, writing over 1,700 poems.
prolific
Attached to every bill for the merchandise was a brief notice asking the customer to ___ payment promptly.
remit (to send or hand in (as money); to cancel, forgive)
After tallying the bills and invoices, the young newlyweds began the odious task of ___ payments to the wedding planner, florist, and photographer.
remitting (to send or hand in (as money); to cancel, forgive)
I see no point in your applying for that job when it is perfectly clear that you lack the ___ qualifications.
requisite (needed, necessary)
Scholastic proficiency, emotional stability, and a genuine interest in young people are ____ qualities for a good teacher.
requisite (needed, necessary, regarded as essential or indispensable)
You can't enroll in this advanced class without the ___ courses.
requisite (needed, necessary, regarded as essential or indispensable)
Although he announces piously how much it hurts him to punish people, I think he takes a(n) ____ pleasure in it.
sadistic
Although he is not given to physical maltreatment, I think there is a truly ___ element in his willingness to humiliate people by belittling them in public.
sadistic
Passengers who are stranded on airplanes and forced to sit on the tarmac for hours may begin to think of airlines as ____ agencies.
sadistic
He delivered his speech poorly, but since he was the best dressed man on the dais that afternoon, he enjoyed a ___ if not an oratorical triumph.
sartorial (having to do with clothes or dress; of or pertaining to a tailor or his work)
In his black jacket, light gray slacks, and tailored sport shirt, he was a model of _____ elegance.
sartorial (of or pertaining to a tailor or his work; having to do with clothes or dress)
In his efforts to impress moral principles on the children, he made use of ___ formulas, such as "To be good, do good."
sententious
When I asked him why he wasn't going to the prom, he answered in his usual ___ style, "No dough, no dance!"
sententious
In the poems and prayers of many ancient cultures, human beings ___ their deities for mercy and aid.
supplicate
I have had my ____ of excuses and evasions; now I want action.
surfeit
Wouldn't you agree that TV has been ____ lately with sitcoms and reality shows?
surfeited
We heard that the South High fans were planning to "kidnap" our mascot before the game, and we were determined to ___ them.
thwart (to oppose successfully; to prevent or frustrate)
Their efforts to win the game by a last-minute trick play were ___ when our alert safety intercepted the deep pass.
thwarted (to oppose successfully)
She tried to justify the lies she had told us, but I was unable to follow her ___ explanation.
tortuous
Some journalists find researching materials in a library a ___ task, preferring to sit and let their computers of the work.
tortuous
The stream followed a(n) _______ course as it twisted through the broken countryside.
tortuous
His ___ conversation, with its exaggerated adjectives and far-fetched figures of speech, made me realize once and for all the virtues of plain speaking.
turgid
The simple and austere prose of the Gettysburg Address stands in stark contrast to the _____ and overblown rhetoric of a great many other nineteenth-centry orations.
turgid
Although I ask no special consideration for myself, I am not too proud to ____ on behalf of my children.
upplicate
