TOEFL Words | Questions & Answers 33/44

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 321–330

321. Coastal salinity levels are often altered by seasonal ice formation, since freezing leaves dissolved salts concentrated in the surrounding water.

The word "altered" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) predicted
• (B) changed
• (C) released
• (D) measured

322. Neighboring landowners initiated a joint planning effort to protect the shared watershed before development pressure increased.

The word "initiated" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) started
• (B) postponed
• (C) opposed
• (D) finished

323. Fear of a costly government mandate stimulated several factory owners to adopt cleaner practices voluntarily.

The word "stimulated" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) motivated
• (B) discouraged
• (C) exhausted
• (D) confused

324. Many longtime residents hoped the town council would retain the quiet character of the waterfront rather than approve new high-rises.

The word "retain" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) preserve
• (B) sell
• (C) renovate
• (D) relocate

325. Two sharply divergent approaches shaped the early debate over how statistical methods should be taught.

The word "divergent" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) different
• (B) identical
• (C) outdated
• (D) popular

326. Descriptive statistics turns an otherwise unwieldy mass of survey data into a few clear summary figures.

The word "unwieldy" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) unmanageable
• (B) flexible
• (C) compact
• (D) accurate

327. Once farming spread widely, communities came to depend on a few controlled crops rather than the many wild plants their ancestors once gathered.

The word "controlled" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) forbidden
• (B) managed
• (C) forgotten
• (D) imported

328. Recent studies have illuminated the small, everyday habits that quietly shape a child's long-term learning.

The word "illuminated" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) questioned
• (B) exaggerated
• (C) clarified
• (D) hidden

329. Grasping the idea of abstract numbers is a prerequisite for any math more demanding than simple counting.

The word "prerequisite" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) reward
• (B) coincidence
• (C) requirement
• (D) shortcut

330. Because each ice crystal in a cloud is so minute, gravity alone has almost no effect on its motion.

The word "minute" is closest in meaning to:

• (A) heavy
• (B) tiny
• (C) sharp
• (D) bright

Answers

• 321 — B: altered ≈ changed — modified from an earlier state.
• 322 — A: initiated ≈ started — began a new process or effort.
• 323 — A: stimulated ≈ motivated — encouraged or prompted into action.
• 324 — A: retain ≈ preserve — to keep something as it currently is.
• 325 — A: divergent ≈ different — moving apart from one another in approach or direction.
• 326 — A: unwieldy ≈ unmanageable — difficult to handle because of size or complexity.
• 327 — B: controlled ≈ managed — deliberately regulated or cultivated.
• 328 — C: illuminated ≈ clarified — made something easier to understand.
• 329 — C: prerequisite ≈ requirement — something necessary before another thing can happen.
• 330 — B: minute ≈ tiny — extremely small in size.

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