8 Whereas the French salon excluded politics from polite conversation, in the British coffee house politics was a main ______.
(A) appreciation
(B) distraction
(C) infraction
(D) preoccupation

4 The government has ______ to give the promotion of democracy the highest priority. (A) cuddled (B) enthroned (C) pledged (D) reprieved

5 The ______ overthrow of the government left the country in turmoil with no one in charge. (A) desperate (B) moderate (C) tremulous (D) tumultuous

6 It is difficult for artists to create a new market; most of them simply ______ to an existing one. (A) pander (B) pamper (C) profess (D) proliferate

7 The executive director would ______ in a memo to all members the suggestions brought up at this meeting. (A) attenuate (B) franchise (C) memorize (D) recapitulate

9 The IBM 5150 is recognized as the ancestor of the modern PC, a crucial step in computers’ evolution from playthings to ______ tools of modern business and private life. (A) assessable (B) indispensable (C) illegible (D) variable

10 Her advice ______ good, I could not help following it. (A) had been (B) be (C) was (D) being

11 By ourselves, we’re lone voices, a whisper in a swarm of propaganda out there. (A) Our opinion is censored by the official talk and position. (B) We side with the majority view of the government. (C) The opinion poll favors our view. (D) Our opinion stands for the minority as opposed to the official position.

12 The readers’ criticism that the editorial was riddled with defeatist pessimism cut the writer to the quick. (A) The editorial was badly designed as a riddle of defeatist pessimism. (B) The writer of the editorial felt badly hurt by his readers’ critical comments. (C) Readers of this editorial quickly stopped the writer from spreading the defeatist pessimism. (D) Readers’ quick answer to the riddle of defeatist pessimism embarrassed the writer of the editorial.

13 According to the passage, what is one advantage for the countries that store gold in the Federal Reserve vault? (A) It is near the United States Assay Office. (B) The gold is kept in New York, the financial capital of the world. (C) The gold is kept below sea level and so is not affected by the weather. (D) They do not have to pay shipping and insurance charges.

14 According to the passage, what happens when one country wants to pay a debt in gold to another country? (A) The gold is moved to the Federal Reserve Bank from the United States Assay Office. (B) The gold in the vault is moved from one country’s storage area to another’s. (C) The gold must be stamped with the insignia of the country that is receiving the payment. (D) The gold must be weighed to determine its value in dollars, since the price of gold goes up and down so frequently.