High School Placement Test (HSPT) Practice Test

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Prepare for the High School Placement Test (HSPT) with our quiz. Utilize flashcards and multiple choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Set yourself up for success on test day!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

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Arouse is to pacify as agitate is to:

Smooth
Ruffle
Understand
Ignore

The correct answer is: Smooth

The relationship between "arouse" and "pacify" is one of opposites; "arouse" means to stimulate or excite, while "pacify" means to calm or soothe. Following this pattern, the correct response should match the opposite action of "agitate," which means to excite or disturb. In this context, "smooth" serves as an antonym to "agitate." Just as pacifying calms someone after they have been aroused, smoothing out a situation or person tends to calm them after they have been agitated. While ruffling can also relate to agitation by meaning to disturb, it does not serve as a soothing counterpart. Thus, "smooth" aligns perfectly with the relationship established by "arouse" and "pacify" by representing a calming action compared to the excitement associated with "agitate."