CELPIP Vocabulary Prep
Practice Test

A. Easily discouraged

B. Holding firmly to a purpose or belief ✓

C. Quick to abandon plans

D. Indifferent to outcomes

Correct — B. Tenacious describes a quality of holding firmly to one's purpose, belief, or position despite difficulty. A tenacious athlete, for example, continues training even after repeated setbacks. The word implies a combination of determination and resilience.

A. To improve a situation

B. To make a problem worse ✓

C. To resolve a conflict

D. To examine carefully

Correct — B. To exacerbate means to make an already bad situation worse or more severe. For example, pouring water on a grease fire would exacerbate it. The word is commonly used in academic, medical, and professional writing.

A. To intensify an effect

B. To eliminate something entirely

C. To lessen the severity of something ✓

D. To transfer responsibility

Correct — C. To mitigate means to make something less severe, serious, or painful. It is frequently used in legal, environmental, and medical contexts. For instance, wearing a seatbelt can mitigate the risk of injury in a car accident.

A. Difficult to understand

B. Mumbling and unclear

C. Able to speak fluently and clearly ✓

D. Reluctant to speak in public

Correct — C. As an adjective, articulate describes someone who is able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and fluently. An articulate speaker commands attention and communicates with precision. The word can also be used as a verb meaning to express oneself clearly.

A. Forgiving and compassionate

B. Having a strong desire for revenge ✓

C. Cautiously avoiding conflict

D. Indifferent to being wronged

Correct — B. Vindictive describes a person who has a strong desire to harm or punish someone who has hurt them; someone motivated by revenge. A vindictive response to criticism focuses on retaliating rather than addressing the issue. The word implies an intense and often prolonged desire for vengeance.

A. Laconic

B. Concise

C. Verbose ✓

D. Terse

Correct — C. Verbose means using more words than necessary; it describes speech or writing that is excessively long-winded. The opposite would be laconic or terse, which describe brevity. In CELPIP contexts, recognizing verbose writing helps identify unnecessary wordiness.

A. Fallible

B. Credible

C. Infallible ✓

D. Plausible

Correct — C. Infallible describes something or someone that is never wrong or never fails. No human is truly infallible, though the word is sometimes used to describe systems or processes designed to be error-free. It contrasts with 'fallible,' which means capable of making mistakes.

A. Ratify

B. Nullify ✓

C. Amplify

D. Certify

Correct — B. To nullify means to make something legally invalid or to cancel its effect. Courts can nullify contracts, and governments can nullify laws that violate constitutional principles. The word is related to 'null,' meaning having no legal force.