TOEFL Vocabulary Practice Test Set 10 - 40 Questions (361 to 400)


361. When water is scarce (as is often the case on a mountain) , lichens may become dormant and remain in that condition for prolonged periods of time.

The word "prolonged" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) precise
  • (B) extended
  • (C) approximate
  • (D) regular

Answer - B

362. For decades, scientists wondered how the offspring of an alga and a fungus got together to form a new lichen; it seemed unlikely that they would just happen to encounter one another.

The word "encounter" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) lose
  • (B) support
  • (C) meet
  • (D) create

Answer - C

363. Newbery notwithstanding, Americans still looked on children's books as vehicles for instruction, not amusement, though they would accept a moderate amount of fictional entertainment for the sake of more successful instruction.

The word "notwithstanding" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) in spite of
  • (B) in addition to
  • (C) as a result of
  • (D) as a part of

Answer - A

364. As the children's book market expanded, then, what both public and publishers wanted was the kind of fiction Maria Edgeworth wrote: stories interesting enough to attract children and morally instructive enough to allay adult distrust of fiction.

The word "allay" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) clarify
  • (B) attack
  • (C) reduce
  • (D) confirm

Answer - C

365. The characters of children in this fiction were serious, conscientious, self-reflective, and independent --- strong>testimony to the continuing influence of the earlier American moralistic tradition in children's books.

The word" testimony to" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) inspiration for
  • (B) evidence of
  • (C) requirement for
  • (D) development of

Answer - B

366. The Moon, which has undergone a distinct and complex geological history presents a striking appearance.

The word "undergone" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) altered
  • (B) substituted
  • (C) experienced
  • (D) preserved

Answer - C

367. It is now known that the vastmajority of the Moon's craters were formed by the impact of solid bodies with the lunar surface.

The word "vast" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) special
  • (B) Known
  • (C) varied
  • (D) great

Answer - D

368. The term "latent heat" refers to the energy that has to be used to convert liquid water to water vapor.

The word "convert" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) mix
  • (B) change
  • (C) adapt
  • (D) reduce

Answer - B

369. In the atmosphere, a large portion of the Sun's incoming energy is used to evaporate water, primarily in the tropical oceans.

The word "primarily" in the line 19 is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) chiefly
  • (B) originally
  • (C) basically
  • (D) clearly

Answer - A

370. Other species may become better adapted to an environment, resulting in competition and, ultimately, in the death of a species.

The word "ultimately" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) exceptionally
  • (B) dramatically
  • (C) eventually
  • (D) unfortunately

Answer - C

371. One of the best-known examples of mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago with the demise of dinosaurs and many other forms of life.

The word "demise" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) change
  • (B) recovery
  • (C) help
  • (D) death

Answer - D

372. One interesting, and controversial, finding is that extinctions during the past 250 million years have tended to be more intense every 26 million years.

The word "finding" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) published information
  • (B) research method
  • (C) ongoing experiment
  • (D) scientific discovery

Answer - D

373. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?

The word "insignificant" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) unimportant
  • (B) undisturbed
  • (C) immature
  • (D) inappropriate

Answer - A

374. Potter, for instance, found it convenient to locate their workshops near their source of clay, regardless of its relation to the center of settlement.

The phrase "regardless of" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) as a result of
  • (B) no matter what
  • (C) proud of
  • (D) according to

Answer - B

375. The techniques of pottery manufacture had evolved well before the Greek period, but marked stylistic developments occurred in shape and in decoration, for example, in the interplay of black and other glazes with the red surface of the fired pot.

The word "marked" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) original
  • (B) attractive
  • (C) noticeable
  • (D) patterned

Answer - C

376. The broad utility of terra-cotta was such that workers in clay could generally afford to confine themselves to either decorated ware and house wares like cooking pots and storage jars or building materials like roof tiles and drainpipes.

The word "confine" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) adapt
  • (B) train
  • (C) restrict
  • (D) organize

Answer - C

377. Some sixth-and fifth-century B. C. Athenian pottery establishments are known to have concentrated on a limited range of fine ware, but a rural pottery establishment on the island of Thasos produced many types of pottery and roof tiles too, presumably to meet local demand.

The word "presumably" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) frequently
  • (B) practically
  • (C) preferably
  • (D) probably

Answer - D

378. The expense of moving a family to the ever-receding frontier exceeded the means of many, and the cost of tools draft animals, a wagon, a well, fencing, and of building the simplest house, might come to $1,000 - a formidable barrier.

The word "formidable" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) obvious
  • (B) predictable
  • (C) difficult
  • (D) manageable

Answer - C

379. Homesteaders usually came from districts not far removed from frontier conditions. And despite the intent of the law, speculators often managed to obtain large tracts.

The word "intent" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) purpose
  • (B) power
  • (C) effect
  • (D) invention

Answer - A

380. The smooth operation of an ant colony depends on ten to twenty different signals, most of which are pheromones(chemical signals triggering behavioral responses) .

The phrase "smooth operation" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) daily activity
  • (B) effective functioning
  • (C) delicate balance
  • (D) permanent location

Answer - B

381. The simple of these is the carbon dioxide from the respiration of an ant cluster, a chemical that acts pheromone to promote aggregation.

The word "cluster" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) organ
  • (B) activity
  • (C) group
  • (D) cycle

Answer - C

382. Fire ants also make use of an alarm pheromone to alert workers to an emergency, and their scouts lay down a trail pheromone as a guide during mass migrations.

The word "alert" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) allow
  • (B) transport
  • (C) warn
  • (D) provide

Answer - C

383. A fire ant queen emits a chemical signal that identifies her to the colony's workers. They respond by scurrying to gather around her. The decomposing corpse of a dead ant also generates a signal, to which workers respond by eliminating the corpse from the nest.

The word "scurrying" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) agreeing
  • (B) appearing
  • (C) competing
  • (D) rushing

Answer - D

384. Rivers also reveal clay along their banks, and erosion on a hillside may make clay easily accessible.

The word "accessible" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) buried
  • (B) improved
  • (C) available
  • (D) workable

Answer - C

385. Variations of clay composition and the temperatures at which they are fired account for the differences in texture and appearance between a china teacup and an earthenware flowerpot.

The phrase "account for" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) reduce
  • (B) explain
  • (C) combine with
  • (D) list all of

Answer - B

386. One researcher observed babies and their mothers in six diverse cultures and found that, in all six languages, the mothers used simplified syntax, short utterances and nonsense sounds, and transformed certain sounds into baby talk.

The word "diverse" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) surrounding
  • (B) divided
  • (C) different
  • (D) stimulating

Answer - C

387. Other investigators have noted that when mothers talk to babies who are only a few months old, they exaggerate the pitch, loudness, and intensity of their words.

The word "noted" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) theorized
  • (B) requested
  • (C) disagreed
  • (D) observed

Answer - D

388. They also exaggerate their facial expressions, hold vowels longer, and emphasize certain words.

The word "emphasize" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) stress
  • (B) repeat
  • (C) explain
  • (D) leave out

Answer - A

389.When songs have been subjected to these processes, their origin is usually impossible to trace.

The word "subjected" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) reduced
  • (B) modified
  • (C) exposed
  • (D) imitated

Answer - C

390. This constant reshaping and re-creation is the essence of folk music. Consequently, modern popular songs and other published music, even though widely sung by people who are not professional musicians, are not considered folk music.

The word "essence" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) basic nature
  • (B) growing importance
  • (C) full extent
  • (D) first phase

Answer - A

391. In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington, in Seattle, engaged a firm of landscape architects, specialists in the design of outdoor environments --- Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts --- to advise them on an appropriate layout for the university grounds.

The word "engaged" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) trained
  • (B) hired
  • (C) described
  • (D) evaluated

Answer - B

392. John Olmsted did the investigation and subsequent report on Seattle's parks.

The word "subsequent" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) complicated
  • (B) alternate
  • (C) later
  • (D) detailed

Answer - C

393.With such unparalleled sums at their disposal, with the Olmsted guidelines to follow, and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best for the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition of 1909, the Parks Board bought aggressively.

The word "sums" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) problems
  • (B) amounts
  • (C) services
  • (D) debts

Answer - B

394. Many prehistoric people subsisted as hunters and gatherers. Undoubtedly, game animals, including some very large species, provided major components of human diets.

The word "Undoubtedly" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) occasionally
  • (B) unexpectedly
  • (C) previously
  • (D) certainly

Answer - D

The word "components" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) parts
  • (B) problems
  • (C) changes
  • (D) varieties

Answer - -

395. Hunter-gatherers may have contributed to Pleistocene extinctions in more indirect ways. Besides overhunting, at least three other kinds of effects have been suggested: direct competition, imbalances between competing species of game animals, and early agricultural practices.

The word "Besides" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) caused by
  • (B) whereas
  • (C) in addition to
  • (D) in favor of

Answer - C

396. If such hunters first competed with the larger predators and then replaced them, they may have allowed more young to survive each year, gradually increasing the populations of favored species.

The word "favored" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) large
  • (B) escaping
  • (C) preferred
  • (D) local

Answer - C

397. They became an integral part of the gardens of the Ottoman Empire from the sixteenth century onward, and, soon after, part of European life as well.

The word "integral" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) interesting
  • (B) fundamental
  • (C) ornamental
  • (D) overlooked

Answer - B

398. They flourished in Pennsyvania too, where in 1698 William Penn received a report of John Tateham's "Great and Stately Palace," its garden full of tulips.

The word "flourished" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) were discovered
  • (B) were marketed
  • (C) combined
  • (D) thrived

Answer - D

399. Thomas Hancock, an English settler, wrote thanking his plant supplier for a gift of some tulip bulbs from England, but his letter of the following year grumbled that they were all dead.

The word "grumbled" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) denied
  • (B) warned
  • (C) complained
  • (D) explained

Answer - C

400. No two comets ever look identical, but they have basic features in common, one of the most obvious of which is a coma.

The word "identical" is closest in meaning to which of following?

  • (A) equally fast
  • (B) exactly alike
  • (C) near each other
  • (D) invisible

Answer - B


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