Question

set b
choosing the right word
you might refer to the passage on pages 36 - 37 to see how these words are used in context. note that the choices may be related forms of the unit words.

1. the fact that abraham lincoln was able to (surmount) the handicap of a limited education does not mean that you should quit school.
2. one cant become a good writer just by (adhering) closely to rules laid down in standard grammar books.
3. the comforting presence of relatives did much to (exercise, pilfer) the patients feelings of alarm at the thought of undergoing major surgery.
4. the robber barons of an earlier era often acted more like (adherents, marauders) than ethical businessmen in their dealings with the public.
5. their (trite, cherubic) faces and other - worldly voices almost made me believe that the music they were singing was coming from an ethereal place.
6. unless we repair the (rifts, adherents) in our party and present a united front, we will go down in crushing defeat in the upcoming election.
7. apparently, our cat is a very successful (marauder, rift) who finds toys and articles of clothing in neighbors yards and brings them all home to us.
8. i do not entirely (exercise, condone) your misconduct, but i can understand to a degree why you behaved as you did.
9. if you ever saw how vigorously my dog attacks his food, practically inhaling it, you would understand why i accuse him of (gluttony, adherent).
10. her speech was so (cherubic, trite) that one could almost anticipate the phrases she would use next.
11. like all literary sneak - thieves, he has a truly nasty habit of (pilfering, surmounting) other peoples ideas and then claiming them as his own.
12. as a loyal (adherent, gluttony), she was horrified by her political partys stance on the issue.

Explanation:

For each sentence, we need to select the most appropriate word from the bold - faced ones to complete the sentence based on context and word - meaning. For example, in sentence 1, "surmount" means to overcome or deal successfully with a difficulty, which fits the context of overcoming a handicap. Similarly, other words are chosen according to how well they fit the semantic and syntactic requirements of their respective sentences.

Answer:

1. surmount
2. adhering
3. comforting
4. exercise
5. rifts
6. adherents
7. condone
8. trite
9. cherubic
10. pilfering
11. gluttony
12. adherent