TOEFL Words | Questions & Answers 1/44

This page gives you ten original TOEFL-style vocabulary items built around the target words below. Answer all ten first, then check your choices against the answer key at the end.

TOEFL Words | Questions 001-010

001. Critics argued that the survey sample, drawn mostly from wealthy neighborhoods, was not representative of the city's overall population.

The word "representative" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) accurate
• (B) typical
• (C) generous
• (D) diverse

002. The chef's prized collection of hand-forged knives took nearly a decade to assemble and rarely leaves the kitchen.

The word "prized" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) valued
• (B) sharpened
• (C) borrowed
• (D) discarded

003. Within two years, the startup's mobile app had been overtaken by a rival offering nearly identical features at a lower price.

The word "overtaken" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) delayed
• (B) copied
• (C) surpassed
• (D) financed

004. The technician checked the pressure gauge at regular intervals throughout the night to make sure the system did not overheat.

The word "intervals" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) periods
• (B) locations
• (C) speeds
• (D) heights

005. Volunteers spent the afternoon freeing a stranded dolphin from a tangled fishing net before the tide rose again.

The word "freeing" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) feeding
• (B) releasing
• (C) measuring
• (D) frightening

006. Analysts had expected steady gains, so the sudden plunge in the company's stock price after the earnings call surprised nearly everyone.

The word "plunge" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) rise
• (B) delay
• (C) drop
• (D) rumor

007. The mural was not the work of one artist but the collective effort of nearly forty students working after school for a month.

The word "collective" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) group
• (B) individual
• (C) hurried
• (D) hidden

008. The mediator's job was to resolve the dispute between the two departments before it affected the product launch.

The word "resolve" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) delay further
• (B) ignore completely
• (C) find a solution for
• (D) complicate further

009. Long before other astronomers noticed the faint signal, one graduate student had already flagged it in the raw telescope data.

The word "noticed" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) predicted
• (B) reported
• (C) dismissed
• (D) observed

010. By the end of the flight, the headphone cords in her bag had become hopelessly tangled with the charging cables.

The word "tangled" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) twisted together
• (B) worn out
• (C) quietly lost
• (D) neatly folded

Answers

• 001 — B: representative ≈ typical — a representative sample reflects the whole group, not one slice of it.
• 002 — A: prized ≈ valued — something prized is highly valued, often for its rarity or the effort behind it.
• 003 — C: overtaken ≈ surpassed — to be overtaken is to be passed or exceeded by something else.
• 004 — A: intervals ≈ periods — intervals are recurring spans of time between events.
• 005 — B: freeing ≈ releasing — freeing means releasing something from restraint.
• 006 — C: plunge ≈ drop — a plunge is a sudden, sharp decrease.
• 007 — A: collective ≈ group — collective describes something shared by a group as a whole.
• 008 — C: resolve ≈ find a solution for — to resolve a dispute is to settle it.
• 009 — D: noticed ≈ observed — noticed means became aware of through observation.
• 010 — A: tangled ≈ twisted together — tangled things are twisted together in a disordered way.

For more practice like this, browse the vocabulary hub or try a full reading practice set.