1. Although sales have continued to increase since last April, unfortunately the rate of increase has ____.
(A) resurged
(B) decelerated
(C) retarded
(D) capitulated
(E) retaliated
(F) persevered
2. The form and physiology of leaves vary according to the _____ in which they develop: for example, leaves display a wide range of adaptations to different degrees of light and moisture.
(A) relationship
(B) species
(C) sequence
(D) patterns
(E) environment
(F) surroundings
3. Although Ms.Brown found some of her duties to be _____, her supervision of forty workers was a considerable responsibility.
(A) ambiguous
(B) provisional
(C) menial
(D) humble
(E) unique
(F) mediocre
4. Both television commercials and programs present _____ view of the material world，one which promotes a standard of living that most of us can probably not attain.
(A) an unrealistic
(B) an imprudent
(C) a standardized
(D) a perplexing
(E) a banal
(F) an visionary
5. One virus strain that may help gene therapists cure genetic brain diseases can enter the peripheral nervous system and travel to the brain, _____ the need to inject the therapeutic virus directly into the brain.
(A) suggesting
(B) intensifying
(C) elucidating
(D) satisfying
(E) obviating
(F) avoiding
6. The fortresslike fa ade of the Museum of Cartoon Art seems calculated to remind visitors that the comic strip is an art form that has often been _____ by critics.
(A) charmed
(B) assailed
(C) unnoticed
(D) railed
(E) exhilarated
(F) overwhelmed
7. Although some consider forcefulness and _____ to be two traits desirable to the same degree, I think that making a violent effort is much less useful than maintaining a steady one.
(A) persistence
(B) perseverance
(C) promptness
(D) aggression
(E) skillfulness
(F) lucidity
8. The legislators of 1563 realized the _____ of trying to regulate the flow of labor without securing its reasonable remuneration, and so the second part of the statute dealt with establishing wages.
(A) futility
(B) bootlessness
(C) intricacy
(D) anxiety
(E) necessity
(F) decadence
9. The children’s _____ natures were in sharp contrast to the even-tempered dispositions of their parents.
(A) mercurial
(B) blithe
(C) phlegmatic
(D) introverted
(E) artless
(F) inconstant
10. Because early United States writers thought that the mark of great literature was grandiosity and elegance not to be found in common speech, they _____ the vernacular.
(A) dissected
(B) misunderstood
(C) avoided
(D) investigated
(E) shunned
(F) exploited