34 Verbal Reasoning questions — Part 1: 17 synonym, Part 2: 17 sentence completion — in the ISEE's own four-option format. Every answer is explained, and every question links to its word's full study page.
Which word is closest in meaning to “capital”?
D — City. “capital” means n. city of government, money. Study “capital” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “explanation”:
C — clarification. “explanation” means n. reason or justification. Study “explanation” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “barrier”.
A — Hindrance. “barrier” means n. obstacle, something blocking. Study “barrier” →
Select the best synonym for the word “stationary”.
A — Unmoving. “stationary” means adj. not moving. Study “stationary” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “poverty”: Despite the country''s abundant resources, many of its citizens live in poverty.
C — Destitution. “poverty” means n. the state of being poor. Study “poverty” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “express”:
B — Communicate. “express” means v. show feelings, communicate. Study “express” →
Choose the word that best matches the meaning of “interrupt” as used in the sentence: “The loud noise began to interrupt the speaker.”
A — Disrupt. “interrupt” means v. stop temporarily. Study “interrupt” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to: “Informal”.
A — Casual. “informal” means adj. relaxed, casual. Study “informal” →
Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to prey.
A — victim. “prey” means n., v. animal hunted, to hunt. Study “prey” →
Choose the word that is a synonym for “horizon”:
C — vista. “horizon” means n. line where earth and sky appear to meet. Study “horizon” →
Choose the word closest in meaning to “inner”.
C — Internal. “inner” means adj. inside. Study “inner” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “legislation”?
A — Law. “legislation” means n. law, the making of laws. Study “legislation” →
Which word is the best synonym for evoke?
A — Generate. “evoke” means v. call up, bring to mind. Study “evoke” →
Select the word that is most similar in meaning to “obey”.
B — Comply. “obey” means v. follow orders. Study “obey” →
Which word is a synonym of “inspect”?
B — Examine. “inspect” means v. look at carefully. Study “inspect” →
Which word is the best synonym for “official”?
A — Formal. “official” means adj./n. authorized, person with authority. Study “official” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “exploit”: The company was eager to exploit new markets to increase its revenue.
A — Develop. “exploit” means v. make use of; n. brave deed. Study “exploit” →
The orientation is designed to ______ new students with the campus.
C — acquaint. “acquaint” means v. to make familiar. Study “acquaint” →
Pulling your hand back from a hot stove is a completely ______ reaction.
B — instinctive. “instinctive” means adj. natural, automatic. Study “instinctive” →
The quick thinking of the pilot helped ______ a disaster.
D — avert. “avert” means v. prevent, turn away. Study “avert” →
As a junior clerk, he was ______ to nearly everyone in the office.
B — subordinate. “subordinate” means adj./n. lower in rank. Study “subordinate” →
The hikers did not expect to ______ a bear on the mountain trail.
D — encounter. “encounter” means v./n. meet, especially unexpectedly. Study “encounter” →
The country's economy depends heavily on ______, especially the growing of rice.
B — agriculture. “agriculture” means n. farming. Study “agriculture” →
The young knight set out on a dangerous ______ to find the golden cup.
D — quest. “quest” means n./v. search, seek. Study “quest” →
All students are encouraged to ______ in the yearly science fair.
A — participate. “participate” means v. take part in. Study “participate” →
A fair judge must set aside all personal ______ before ruling.
D — prejudice. “prejudice” means n. bias, unfair opinion. Study “prejudice” →
A cool drink of water helped ______ her terrible thirst on the hot day.
C — relieve. “relieve” means v. ease pain or worry. Study “relieve” →
A large fallen tree was the only ______ on the narrow mountain path.
A — obstacle. “obstacle” means n. something that blocks way. Study “obstacle” →
The teacher returned the ______ essay and asked him to finish it.
A — incomplete. “incomplete” means adj. not finished. Study “incomplete” →
Volunteers rushed to ______ the victims of the flood.
C — aid. “aid” means n./v. help, assistance. Study “aid” →
From the muddy footprints, the detective drew a clever ______ about the intruder.
B — inference. “inference” means n. conclusion drawn from evidence. Study “inference” →
When many people lose their jobs, the whole ______ suffers.
A — economy. “economy” means n. system of money and production. Study “economy” →
World leaders were quick to ______ the violent attack.
C — condemn. “condemn” means v. express disapproval; punish. Study “condemn” →
The ______ package was too heavy and wide for one person to lift.
A — bulky. “bulky” means adj. large and difficult to move or carry. Study “bulky” →
Score:
Every question below is now marked up: the correct answer is highlighted in red, and any option you picked that was wrong is highlighted in blue.
No. These are original synonym and sentence-completion questions written from the iSEE Vocab word bank, in the ISEE's own four-option Verbal Reasoning format. No retired or copyrighted ISEE/SSAT questions appear anywhere on this site.
34 — Part 1 is 17 synonym questions, Part 2 is 17 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Lower Level practice test on this site draws from a disjoint slice of the word bank, so Test 1, Test 2 and every other numbered test at this level use entirely different questions.
Yes. The ISEE gives no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank scores the same as a wrong guess, which is zero — so answer every question even when you have to guess.