1. Arthur Conan Doyle’s upstanding hero Sherlock Holmes engages in just as much clever deception as his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, proving that _________ is not inherently evil.

(a) immorality
(b) brilliance
(c) cunning
(d) subterfuge
(e) wrongdoing
(f) judgment

2. The etymologies of the words alpha and omega couldn’t be more different; the former is obscure—the original symbol for alpha was an ox’s head, and an ox is ‘alp in Phoenician — while the latter is _________, as omega simply means “big O.”

(a) transparent
(b) complicated
(c) overt
(d) erudite
(e) abstruse
(f) scholarly

3. While the muted colors do suggest a certain sobriety, the overall effect is undeniably _________.

(a) vivacious
(b) poignant
(c) dull
(d) lackluster
(e) mirthful
(f) benign

4. Although the system’s _________ is not currently in dispute at the national level, increasing local allegations of preferential treatment are threatening to change the situation.

(a) unfairness
(b) solemnity
(c) probity
(d) equity
(e) partiality
(f) solicitousness

5. Aghast at the indiscretion, the politician took a symbolic vow of _________, hoping that public attention to the matter would quickly wane.

(a) silence
(b) chastity
(c) openness
(d) transparency
(e) reticence
(f) quietus

6. A petty man obsessed with—but in perpetual doubt about—his own power, he surrounded himself with subordinates who could best be described as _________.

(a) sages
(b) myrmidons
(c) sycophants
(d) quacks
(e) ascetics
(f) sirens

7. While traveling to the spa’s remote location could be hectic, visitors to the spa more than made up for the stress by unwinding in a supremely _________ environment.

(a) effusive
(b) pacific
(c) duplicitous
(d) censorious
(e) placid
(f) blithe

8. The man looked much older than his 70 years, his _________ frame looking as though it had endured at least 40 years in the desert; although the casting director had initially pictured a more physically robust Moses, the actor was, in the end, perfect for the role.

(a) fetid
(b) incendiary
(c) desiccated
(d) wizened
(e) arid
(f) hale

9. The children’s attempt at a Mother’s Day brunch was _________; soggy French toast, lukewarm coffee, and a syrup fight in the kitchen that would inevitably end up being cleaned up by the very recipient of the brunch.

(a) convivial
(b) amiable
(c) risible
(d) satirical
(e) farcical
(f) labile

10. In a place rife with both poverty and crime, some cautioned the young student that to _________ about with his fancy phone and designer clothing was only to invite trouble.

(a) sprint
(b) gallivant
(c) tergiversate
(d) traipse
(e) cantilever
(f) perambulate