Question

completing the sentence
choose the word from the box that best completes each item. then write the word on the line provided. (you may have to change the word’s ending.)
word box: abandon, assault, convert, dispute, impressive, justify, misleading, numerous, productive, shrewd, strategy, villain
greeks and trojans at war

• both the greek poet homer and the roman poet virgil wrote of the ten-year siege of troy by the greeks and of the heroes and ____ who did battle there.
• one of the most famous stories describes the sly ____ that the greeks thought up to defeat the trojans.
• the greeks had tried not once but on ____ occasions to force the trojans to surrender the fortress city.
• several times the greeks had ____ the walls of troy, but all of the attacks had failed.
• finally, the greeks came up with a ____ plan: they left at the gates of troy a huge wooden horse as a pretended peace offering. the trojans brought the horse inside the city walls.
• but the wooden horse was a ____ gift, for hidden inside was a small army of greeks, who at nightfall climbed from the horse and opened the gates to the city.

a false science

• alchemists were people who believed that it was possible to ____ ordinary metals, such as iron and lead, into gold. the best-known alchemists are those who practiced in europe during the middle ages.
• they staged very ____ experiments to try to convince others that they could do as they promised.
• some people believed that the possibility of great wealth ____ even the most far-fetched experiments.
• scientists today would ____ the ideas of the alchemists, but centuries ago many people believed that their ideas were sound. in fact, it was not until the 1800s that scientists proved that base metals cannot be turned into gold.
• failure upon failure finally persuaded most alchemists to ____ their dreams of wealth and glory.
• in a way, the work that the alchemists did was ____ because it sometimes led to advances in chemistry. during the middle ages, for example, alchemists were responsible for the discovery of mineral acids.

Explanation:

To solve these sentence - completion problems, we analyze each sentence based on context and the meaning of the words in the box:

1. “Both the Greek poet Homer and the Roman poet Virgil wrote of the ten - year siege of Troy by the Greeks and of the heroes and ____ who did battle there.”

• We need a word that is the opposite of “heroes” in the context of a battle. “Villain” means a bad person, and since we are talking about multiple people, we use the plural form “villains”.

2. “One of the most famous stories describes the sly ____ that the Greeks thought up to defeat the Trojans.”

• A “strategy” is a plan or trick to achieve a goal. The Greeks' plan to defeat the Trojans was a sly strategy, so “strategy” fits here.

3. “The Greeks had tried not once but on ____ occasions to force the Trojans to surrender the fortress city.”

• “Numerous” means many. The sentence implies that the Greeks tried many times, so “numerous” is the right word.

4. “Several times the Greeks had ____ the walls of Troy, but all of the attacks had failed.”

• “Assault” means to attack. The past tense “assaulted” is used here as the Greeks attacked the walls of Troy.

5. “Finally, the Greeks came up with a ____ plan: They left at the gates of Troy a huge wooden horse as a pretended peace offering.”

• “Shrewd” means clever or sly. The Greek plan of the wooden horse was a clever one, so “shrewd” is appropriate.

6. “But the wooden horse was a ____ gift, for hidden inside was a small army of Greeks...”

• “Misleading” means giving a wrong impression. The wooden horse seemed like a peace offering but was actually a trick, so it was a misleading gift.

7. “Alchemists were people who believed that it was possible to ____ ordinary metals, such as iron and lead, into gold.”

• “Convert” means to change from one form to another. Alchemists wanted to change ordinary metals into gold, so “convert” is the correct word.

8. “They staged very ____ experiments to try to convince others that they could do as they promised.”

• “Impressive” means making a strong impression. The alchemists' experiments were meant to impress others, so “impressive” fits.

9. “Some people believed that the possibility of great wealth ____ even the most far - fetched experiments.”

• “Justify” means to show that something is reasonable. The possibility of great wealth made even far - fetched experiments seem reasonable, so “justified” (past tense) is used.

10. “Scientists today would ____ the ideas of the alchemists...”

• “Dispute” means to argue against or question. Scientists today question the alchemists' ideas, so “dispute” is the right word.

11. “Failure upon failure finally persuaded most alchemists to ____ their dreams of wealth and glory.”

• “Abandon” means to give up. The alchemists gave up their dreams due to failures, so “abandon” is appropriate.

12. “In a way, the work that the alchemists did was ____ because it sometimes led to advances in chemistry.”

• “Productive” means producing good results. The alchemists' work led to advances in chemistry, so it was productive.

Answer:

s:

1. villains
2. strategy
3. numerous
4. assaulted
5. shrewd
6. misleading
7. convert
8. impressive
9. justified
10. dispute
11. abandon
12. productive