TOEFL Words | Questions & Answers 32/44

This page drills ten TOEFL-level words in fresh context sentences. Read each sentence, choose the closest meaning for the bolded word, then check your answers against the key at the end.

Questions 311–320

311. Colonial land records show that unattached women could still petition the town council directly for a plot of farmland.

The phrase "unattached women" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) widowed women
• (B) traveling women
• (C) unmarried women
• (D) elderly women

312. Beyond its decorative glaze, the ceramic bowl remained thoroughly functional, holding soup or grain without leaking.

The word "functional" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) useful
• (B) fragile
• (C) costly
• (D) ornate

313. Clay remains one of the most basic materials available to potters, since it can be dug from riverbanks almost anywhere.

The word "basic" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) rare
• (B) fundamental
• (C) durable
• (D) refined

314. The glaze dripped down the vase in an irregular pattern that no two potters could ever repeat exactly.

The word "pattern" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) texture
• (B) weight
• (C) sequence
• (D) design

315. Because horses see in a largely monochrome world, trainers rely on contrast and brightness rather than bright colors to guide them.

The word "monochrome" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) transparent
• (B) reflective
• (C) three-dimensional
• (D) one-color

316. If human eyes could detect infrared light, familiar streets at night would look eerily different from how we know them now.

The word "eerily" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) strangely
• (B) rarely
• (C) permanently
• (D) visibly

317. Trained wine tasters can detect flavor differences that surpass what most laboratory instruments can measure.

The word "surpass" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) approximate
• (B) exceed
• (C) distort
• (D) ignore

318. The comfort she felt after finally forgiving her old friend remained undiminished by the years that had passed since the argument.

The word "undiminished" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) quickly explained
• (B) not lessened
• (C) partly imagined
• (D) rarely mentioned

319. Meeting the retired pilot fulfilled a childhood dream she had carried since her first flight as a passenger.

The word "dream" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) memory
• (B) aspiration
• (C) routine
• (D) announcement

320. After finishing the biography, the student vowed to visit every city the author had once lived in.

The word "vowed" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) hesitated
• (B) forgot
• (C) admitted
• (D) promised

Answers

• 311 — C: unattached women ≈ unmarried women — women without a husband, in this historical context.
• 312 — A: functional ≈ useful — serving a practical purpose.
• 313 — B: basic ≈ fundamental — forming the essential foundation of something.
• 314 — D: pattern ≈ design — a repeated or decorative arrangement of shapes.
• 315 — D: monochrome ≈ one-color — limited to a single color or shade.
• 316 — A: eerily ≈ strangely — in an unsettling or unfamiliar way.
• 317 — B: surpass ≈ exceed — to go beyond a limit or standard.
• 318 — B: undiminished ≈ not lessened — remaining just as strong as before.
• 319 — B: dream ≈ aspiration — a hope or ambition for the future.
• 320 — D: vowed ≈ promised — made a firm, personal commitment.

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