1. (A) The semicolon indicates that what
follows—the statement that the Inuit now live in fixed
settlements—is a continuation of the thought that came before.
"Nomadic" means "wandering" or "transient," so, to be consistent,
the first part of the sentence must say that the Inuit rejected,
or "abandoned," "their previously nomadic lifestyle."
2. (B) "For" means "since" here, indicating
that what follows is an explanation or clarification. What can be
clarified by a statement that a newborn infant "cannot discern
images more than ten inches from its face"? The statement that
the infant's ability to see things has not fully evolved. In
other words, a newborn's "visual" skills are not fully
developed.
3. (D) The clue words "while others" indicate
contrast. If some geysers "erupt regularly," we can predict that
these "others"; do so irregularly. The best choice is (D):
"Sporadically" means "infrequently or irregularly."
4. (C) The clue words because of
signal an explanation. If the play "received poor reviews" and
was canceled because of something about the lead actor's
performance, that performance must have been quite bad. (C),
"overwrought"—overdone, or excessively agitated—is one of two
negative words in the answer choices, and the only one that could
logically describe a performance.
5. (B) "Paradoxically" (or, in other words,
"contrary to what one would expect"), children of creative and
unorthodox parents grow up to be something other than creative
and unorthodox. We need a word that contrasts with "creative and
unorthodox" but goes along with "tame." (B) is the best choice:
"Conformists" are people who follow established norms and customs
without challenging anything or anyone.
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