Style, Intensity, and Connotation in One-Blank Texts

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. Many choose to become college professors, even though the road to tenure can be ___________.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. The musician’s attempts to brighten the mood continually failed, as all his songs sounded like __________.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. The conversation, which began as a minor disagreement between two friends, had escalated into a __________ display of enmity.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. While Patricia wanted to __________ the paper, John thought she should only ameliorate its most egregious faults.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. After realizing that mild critiques were not enough to change Neville"s outlook, Miranda decided to level a __________ critique of his position.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. With time, the distressing remark had become a mere __________ in Joel"s mind.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. The end of apartheid in South Africa brought an end to the institutionalization of racism in the country; however, the rise of xenophobia provided a new subject of __________ for the populace.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. When Laura’s sharp retorts did not __________ the strange man’s advances, she gave him a fake number in order to finally get rid of him for good.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. The superstar’s __________ when asked about her relationship with her co-star made the media believe that she was lying about their relationship.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence. The world was __________ when Harper Lee announced that she had written a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird; no one had expected the announcement since it had been over fifty years since she had published the original book.