6. Simulations have shown that a gamma ray burst in our Milky Way could wipe out the stratospheric ozone layer for years, long enough to cause widespread ________
(A) experience
(B) extinction
(C) colosseum
(D) abstract
(E) extract

2. Claudia Townsend, associate professor of marketing in the Miami Herbert Business School, weighed in on the blockbuster roll out of the Barbie and Oppenheimer movies that ________ massive success at the box office. (A) scored (B) stigmatized (C) stipulated (D) stunted (E) succumbed

3. The ________ VUCA has been used to refer to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature of the times we live in. (A) vocalic (B) antonym (C) acronym (D) etymon (E) alias

4. It is a feature of modern Western culture that art has an almost religious significance. In particular, people who have no traditional religious consciousness often have this deep ________ for art. (A) aversion (B) qualm (C) scruple (D) disregard (E) reverence

5. The uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information pose large challenges for society. The sheer ________ of information will not in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively. (A) volition (B) polarization (C) manipulation (D) abundance (E) scarcity

7. Sometimes technologies that seem ________ and that we take for granted as part of everyday life have unanticipated consequences. (A) preposterous (B) appalling (C) brazen (D) benign (E) coy

8. Currently, approval has been granted for inoculation administration to the 12-to-17 year-old ________, and the target is to achieve the largest number of inoculations possible by the start of school in the Fall. (A) innuendos (B) demographic (C) huddle (D) abode (E) parameters

9. Since the queen is very powerful in the game of chess, a novice usually brings out the queen quickly, hoping to ________ the opponent. (A)interrupt (B) interject (C) interrogate (D) intimate (E) intimidate

10. Though lace is fairly ________ in today's fashion world, it was once a delicate and upscale profession of femininity. (A)ubiquitous (B) ultimate (C) unabated (D) unctuous (E) urbane 

II. Grammar: 20 points (Please choose ONE underlined part that contains ungrammatical use of English for each sentence.)11.   Befitting   the most celebrated scientist   of   his time, Alexander von Humboldt    is known   the world over, with his name   bestowing   on hundreds of plants and  animals, from the Humboldt lily to the Humboldt penguin, and on geographical features, from the Humboldt Glacier in Greenland to the Humboldt Current   that   follows along the west coast of South America.  (A)Befitting(B)of(C)is known(D)bestowing(E)that

12 "Culture appears more monolithic than ever, with a few gigantic   corporations  ---Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon--   presiding   over   unprecedented      monopolies  ," argues Ross. "Internet discourse has become   more tight  , more  coercive." (A)corporations(B)presiding(C)unprecedented(D)monopolies(E)more tight