Words in Context Lv Easy (Part2)

Researchers have struggled to pinpoint specific causes for hiccups, which happen when a person’s diaphragm contracts ______. However, neuroscientist Kimberley Whitehead has found that these uncontrollable contractions may play an important role in helping infants regulate their breathing.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

For painter Jacob Lawrence, being ______ was an important part of the artistic process. Because he paid close attention to all the details of his Harlem neighborhood, Lawrence’s artwork captured nuances in the beauty and vitality of the Black experience during the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Arturo A. Schomburg was dedicated to preserving books, art, and other materials from peoples of African descent around the world. To get these items, Schomburg ______ friends and colleagues, whom he asked to bring back rare and valuable objects from their international travels. Now, Schomburg’s collection is a valuable resource for scholars of Black history and culture.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Studying how workload affects productivity, Maryam Kouchaki and colleagues found that people who chose to do relatively easy tasks first were less ______ compared to those who did hard tasks first. Finishing easy tasks gave participants a sense of accomplishment, but those who tackled hard tasks first actually became more skilled and productive workers over time.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Scientists previously thought that all electric eels belong to a single species, but a team of researchers led by zoologist

1. David de Santana proved this idea wrong by ______ that there are in fact three distinct species of electric eels.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

US traffic signals didn’t always contain the familiar three lights (red, yellow, and green). Traffic lights only ______ red and green lights until the three-light traffic signal was developed in the 1920s.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Sueño de Familia is an exhibition of drawings, paintings, and ceramics that explores the artistic heritage of US-based artist Yolanda González. The exhibition ______ five generations, featuring works by González’s great-grandfather, grandmother, mother, and niece as well as González herself.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

As an architect in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Helen Liu Fong became known for avoiding ______ designs in her buildings.

Instead of using standard shapes and colors, she typically explored innovative forms and daring hues.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Physicist Joseph Weber performed ______ work in gravitational wave research in the 1960s and 1970s, conducting key experiments that scientists later used as the basis for their own investigations that led to the first verified detection of a gravitational wave in 2015.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Sumerian civilization (which lasted from around 3300 to 2000 BCE) ______ many concepts that persist into present-day civilizations: for example, the first description of the seven-day week appears in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The parasitic dodder plant increases its reproductive success by flowering at the same time as the host plant it has latched onto. In 2020, Jianqiang Wu and his colleagues determined that the tiny dodder achieves this ______ with its host by absorbing and utilizing a protein the host produces when it is about to flower.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The spacecraft OSIRIS-REx briefly made contact with the asteroid 101955 Bennu in 2020. NASA scientist Daniella DellaGiustina reports that despite facing the unexpected obstacle of a surface mostly covered in boulders, OSIRIS-REx successfully ______ a sample of the surface, gathering pieces of it to bring back to Earth.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The printing of Virginia Woolf’s novels featured a creative ______ between Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell: a talented painter, Bell worked closely with Woolf to create original cover art for most of the novels.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Osage Nation citizen Randy Tinker-Smith produced and directed the ballet Wahzhazhe, which vividly chronicles Osage history and culture. Telling Osage stories through ballet is ______ choice because two of the foremost ballet dancers of the twentieth century were Osage: sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Although the playwrights hoped that their play would be ______ when performed live, critics generally agreed that the production and performances had the opposite effect, wearying audiences instead of energizing them.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Anthropologist Kristian J. Carlson and colleagues examined the fossilized clavicle and shoulder bones of a 3.6-millionyear-old early hominin known as “Little Foot.” They found that these bones were ______ the clavicle and shoulder bones of modern apes that are frequent climbers, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, suggesting that Little Foot had adapted to life in the trees.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Although critics believed that customers would never agree to pay to pick their own produce on farms, such concerns didn’t ______ Booker T. Whatley’s efforts to promote the practice. Thanks in part to Whatley’s determined advocacy, farms that allow visitors to pick their own apples, pumpkins, and other produce can be found throughout the United States.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?