1. Although their initial anger had ____ somewhat, they continued to ____the careless worker who had broken the machine.

Blank (i)            Blank (ii)

A abating          D systematic

B substantial     E erratic

C increasing      F superficial

2. The challenge of interpreting fictional works written under politically repressive regimes lies in distinguishing what is ____ to an author's beliefs, as opposed to what is ____ by political coercion.

Blank (i)          Blank (ii)

A intensified   D berate

B blazed         E appease

C abated         F condone

3. Although the number of reported volcanic eruptions has risen exponentially since 1850, this indicates not____ volcanic activity but rather more widespread and ____ record keeping.

Blank (i)               Blank (ii)

A contradictory  D conveyed

B organic            E imposed

C oblique            F captured

4. Since it is now ______ to build the complex central processing unit of a computer on a single silicon chip using photolithography and chemical etching, it seems plausible that other miniature structures might be fabricated in ______ ways.

Blank (i)                   Blank (ii)

A unprecedented     D unique

B difficult                  E similar

C routine                  F undiscovered

5. The attempt to breed suitable varieties of jojoba by using hybridization to ____ favorable traits was finally abandoned in favor of a simpler and much faster ____: the domestication of flourishing wild strains.

Blank (i)            Blank (ii)

A reinforce        D creation

B eliminate        E method

C concentrate    F theory

6. The sale of Alaska was not so much an American coup as a matter of ______ for an imperial Russia that was short of cash and unable to ______ its own continental coastline.

Blank (i)            Blank (ii)

A negligence     D defend

B expediency   E change

C exigency       F suppress

7. While many Russian composers of the nineteenth century contributed to an emerging national style, other composers did not ____ idiomatic Russian musical elements, ____ instead the traditional musical vocabulary of Western European Romanticism.

Blank (i)               Blank (ii)

A contempt for    D disconcerted by

B quest for           E immersed in

C alienation from  F satisfied with

8. Because the painter Albert Pinkham Ryder was obsessed with his ____ perfection, he was rarely ____ a painting, creating endless variations of a scene on one canvas, one on top of another.

Blank (i)               Blank (ii)

A incorporate      D preferring

B repudiate         E rejecting

C esteem             F expanding

9. In spite of ____ reviews in the press, the production of her play was ____ almost certain oblivion by enthusiastic audiences whose acumen was greater than that of the critics.

Blank (i)              Blank (ii)

A lackluster        D condemned to

B admiring          E rescued from

C sensitive         F exposed to

10. Until quite recently research on diabetes had, as a kind of holding action, attempted to refine the ____ of the disease, primarily because no preventive strategy seemed at all likely to be ____.

Blank (i)                 Blank (ii)

A comprehension  D necessary

B treatment           E costly

C symptoms          F practicable