GRE fill in the blank

C

For a writer with a reputation for both prolixity and inscrutability, Thompson, in this slim collection of short stories, may finally be intent on making his ideas more ________________ to a readership looking for quick edification. (A) trying (B) prescient (C) palatable (D) inaccessible (E) transcendent

C D H

For an actor who prepares so (i) _______________ for each role, the characters he chooses to portray are (ii) _______________; nonetheless even the most nebbish persona he depicts on screen always appears on the verge of a(n) (iii) _______________, as though the actor's suppressed agitation is ready to burst forth. Blank (i) (A) passively (B) carefully (C) feverishly Blank (ii) (D) curiously anemic (E) totally irresponsible (F) somewhat puissant Blank (iii) (G) breakthrough (H) meltdown (I) epiphany

C E G

Keane argues that the political conditions during the early years of the United States were, if anything, (i) _________________ to the formation of a nation united by one document: the Constitution. Rather, had it not been for a few men—Keane invokes the triumvirate of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison—to (ii) _________________ the Constitution, despite the seemingly implacable opposition of anti-Federalists, the central government would have had to (iii) _________________ matters of rule to the individual states. (A) permissive (B) conducive (C) inimical Blank (ii) (D) challenge (E) champion (F) undermine Blank (iii) (G) cede (H) reintroduce (I) deny

E

Much of the consumer protection movement is predicated on the notion that routine exposure to seemingly _______________ products can actually have long-term deleterious consequences. (A) outdated (B) banal (C) litigious (D) virulent (E) benign

B

Rubens, for all his high-flown rhetoric, churns out book reviews that have come to seem _______________: from decades of critiquing other's prose, he now relies on a familiar and tired formula. (A) scathing (B) perfunctory (C) erudite (D) mawkish (E) draconian

B E

That traditional forms of media—despite considerable variance in the quality of writing—tend to report on a range of issues (i) _________________ by the demands of the readership should (ii) ________________ those who believe that the demise of each media outlet signals a lamentable reduction in the scope of news reported. (A) unbounded (B) circumscribed (C) sensationalized Blank (ii) (D) discourage (E) reassure (F) rile up

B E

The flood of innovation that has engendered many of last decade's technological breakthroughs has also claimed some victims in its wake: companies once at the (i) ___________________ of such innovation have now become (ii) ___________________. (A) brink (B) forefront (C) periphery Blank (ii) (D) remarkably pioneering (E) mostly obsolete (F) increasingly relevant

C D

With numerous exciting public works projects in the offing, residents are understandably (i) _______________ ; yet because such prodigious undertakings are inevitably plagued with numerous setbacks, much of the fervor is likely to be (ii) _________________ a heavy dose of reality. (A) vexed (B) concerned (C) agog Blank (ii) (D) tempered with (E) intensified by (F) precluded by