Advanced Sentence Completion Exercise 6

1. Although it is difficult to grasp how such ______ expanse could support any life - for all life must have access to at least one source of water, the Banded Gila Monster continues to thrive along the ______ plains of the Mohave Dessert, and baffle ecologists around the globe.
   1.   ?    a barren...lush
   2.   ?    an uninhabited...rugged
   3.   ?    a desiccated...arid
   4.   ?    an isolated...desolate
   5.   ?    a remote...windswept
2. The ______ succession of events imbued the play with a ______ quality, devoid of rhythm and harmony.
   1.   ?    incongruous...chaotic
   2.   ?    various...strange
   3.   ?    ordinary...musical
   4.   ?    orthodox...typical
   5.   ?    seamless...disjointed
3. Although the average citizen ______ has enough money to provide for their own families, incidents of ______ donations among members of the lower class are not as uncommon as one may think.
   1.   ?    barely...widespread
   2.   ?    hardly...avaricious
   3.   ?    scarcely...magnanimous
   4.   ?    typically...malignant
   5.   ?    usually...negligent
4. Most were expecting him to fumble the ball, but he proved them ______ by making a surprisingly ______ catch and running in for a touchdown.
   1.   ?    incorrect...simple
   2.   ?    mistaken...uncoordinated
   3.   ?    wrong...adroit
   4.   ?    erroneous...good
   5.   ?    accurate...adept
5. While ______ number of modern-day individuals live alarmingly sedentary lives, there remains a ______ minority who enjoy the salient benefits of local motion.
   1.   ?    an increasing...peripatetic
   2.   ?    a falling...stationary
   3.   ?    a rising...migratory
   4.   ?    a pitiful...laudatory
   5.   ?    a declining...mobile
6. The little boy had trouble controlling his ______ nature during the sermon, and his mother urged him to sit still.
   1.   ?    restive
   2.   ?    perturbed
   3.   ?    enlightened
   4.   ?    desperate
   5.   ?    dilettantish
7. While pure gold is the most ______ metal, iron requires considerably more effort to pound into a sheet.
   1.   ?    valuable
   2.   ?    complete
   3.   ?    precious
   4.   ?    malleable
   5.   ?    sturdy
8. Although most predicted Phillip I to ______ his father, he was more ______, and surprised them by reversing several of his father’s more malevolent policies.
   1.   ?    dislike...likeable
   2.   ?    resemble...magnanimous
   3.   ?    mirror...influential
   4.   ?    outlive...intelligent
   5.   ?    surpass...measured
9. The extreme ______ of his stock portfolio translated into a ______ display of emotion: on lucrative days he felt ecstatic; on losing days he acted despondent.
   1.   ?    aggressiveness...consistent
   2.   ?    nature...passionate
   3.   ?    position...crazy
   4.   ?    volatility...mercurial
   5.   ?    variation...pacific
10. While it is true that many Holocaust victims felt ______ during their incarceration, they did not let this lack of ______ destroy their spirit.
    1.   ?    despondent...hope
    2.   ?    weakened...sadness
    3.   ?    passionate...feeling
    4.   ?    enervated...health
    5.   ?    desperate...emotion