Section 17

　　1. Heavily perfumed white flowers, such as gardenias, were favorites with collectors in the eighteenth century, when ________ was valued much more highly than it is today.

　　(A) scent

　　(B) beauty

　　(C) elegance

　　(D) color

　　(E) variety

　　2. In a most impressive demonstration, Pavarotti sailed through Verdi's "Celeste Aida," normally a tenor's ________ , with the casual enthusiasm of a folk singer performing one of his favorite ________ .

　　(A) pitfall.. recitals

　　(B) glory.. chorales

　　(C) nightmare.. ballads

　　(D) delight.. chanteys

　　(E) routine.. composers

　　3. Dependence on foreign sources of heavy metals, though ________ , remains ________ for United States foreign policy.

　　(A) deepening.. a challenge

　　(B) diminishing.. a problem

　　(C) excessive.. a dilemma

　　(D) debilitating.. an embarrassment

　　(E) unavoidable.. a precedent

　　4. Cynics believe that people who ________ compliments do so in order to be praised twice.

　　(A) bask in

　　(B) give out

　　(C) despair of

　　(D) gloat over

　　(E) shrug off

　　5. Although nothing could be further from the truth, freight railroads have been ________ of ________ the nation's shift from oil to coal by charging exorbitant fees to transport coal.

　　(A) accused.. impeding

　　(B) proud.. accelerating

　　(C) guilty.. delaying

　　(D) conscious.. contributing to

　　(E) wary. . interfering with

　　6. Although the revelation that one of the contestants was a friend left the judge open to charges of lack of ________ , the judge remained adamant in her assertion that acquaintance did not necessarily imply ________ .

　　(A) prudence.. tolerance

　　(B) detachment.. foreknowledge

　　(C) exoneration.. impropriety

　　(D) prejudice.. preference

　　(E) disinterestedness.. partiality

　　7. Within the next decade, sophisticated telescopes now orbiting the Earth will determine whether the continents really are moving, ________ the incipient ________ among geologists about the validity of the theory of continental drift.

　　(A) obviating.. consensus

　　(B) forestalling.. rift

　　(C) escalating.. debates

　　(D) engendering.. speculation

　　(E) resolving.. rumors