Vocabulary Workshop Level H Unit 4 Completing the Sentence

All kittens display a natural __ for mischief, but I have never known one so bent on monkey business as our Mickie.

affinity

The __ tenor of remarks that they offered to us as "constructive criticism" betrayed just how sorely they envied our success.

bilious

In reading a passage in French, I can often guess the meanings of the words I have never seen before because they are recognizable __ of familiar English words.

cognates

It is true that capital punishment has not been proved to be a deterrent to murder , but it would be invalid to draw from this the __ that it has been proved not to be a deterrent.

corollary

Having been maneuvered into a(n) __, the retreating troops could do nothing but turn and fight a battle for survival against superior forces.

cul-de-sac

The situation calls for courage, in the sense of a sustained, resolute, and patient effort- not occasional feats of __.

derring-do

Is our blind faith in computerized analysis any different in its essentials from the belief of so-called primitive peoples in __?

divination

The intensive merchandising and tremendous sale of patent medicines show that mankind has never really ceased its search for an all-purpose __.

elixir

Foreign visitors sometimes dismiss our national political conventions as mere __ because of all the surface pageantry.

folderol

The role calls for an actor who can express a(n) __ of emotions, from speechless rage to utter bliss.

gamut

In a truly democratic society, there are no sharp differences in status and privilege between self-styled aristocrats and the __.

hoi polloi

The relief we felt when we realized they were safe was so profound and overwhelming as to be utterly __.

ineffable

Your ponderous __ seemed to me intended much more to emphasize your own importance than to shed any real light on the subject.

lucubration

The short sentence will serve as a(n) __ to help you remember the names of the first eight Presidents: "Will A Jolly Man Make A Jolly Visitor?"

mnemonic

I know that they deserve to be condemned but I can't bring myself to heap __ on them when they are in such a state of disgrace.

obloquy

In estimating the relative military strength of the two powers, we must concentrate on the __ by which ability to carry on modern warfare may be judged.

parameters

No sooner did the press conference end than the network correspondent turned to a group of political __ for an instant analysis.

pundits

The suggestion was so__ that I couldn't help laughing out loud as soon as I heard it.

risible

The lecturer said that the soaring crime statistics are __ of a society in which traditional values and standards are breaking down.

symptomatic

After having strongly supported the teaching of foreign languages, they made a complete __ and advocated that this part of the curriculum be dropped or limited to a small minority.

volte-face