2012-03-15 09:00:15

The specious claims made by the politician were later proven to be false, and it became clear that she had intentionally made _______ statements to mislead voters.

A) guileless   B) spurious   C) ornate    D) superfluous    E) hypocritical

The correct answer is B

Explanation: To predict the meaning of the missing word, look for key words in the sentence. Here, the key word is “specious,” which modifies the types of “claims” the politician made. As the missing word describes the “statements” the politician made, and since “claims” and “statements” are synonymous, the missing word must likewise mean “specious.” “Specious” means “seemingly true or plausible but actually false.” Because “spurious” means “not true,” choice B is correct.

None of the other answer choices work, either:

Guileless: sincere, honest

Ornate: elaborately adorned

Superfluous: unnecessary or excessive

Hypocritical: having the pretense of having virtues that one does not actually possess