例 Ⅳ：
Opponents of affirmative action by quota, the practice of hiring on the basis of race or sex as well as ----------, maintain that both the hired and the rejected suffer ---------- when not judged on their abilities alone.
(A) loyalty ... prejudice
(B) status ... nepotism
(C) competence ... injustice
(D) creed ... indignity
(E) dexterity ... degradation
〖解答〗
先处理空格Ⅰ：可将race设为概念A，sex为概念B，空格Ⅰ为概念C。注意，上述三个概念均出现于"on the basis of..."这一介词结构中，未知的概念C可从句未类似的介词结构"on their abilities alone"中得到补足。在空格Ⅰ，求得(C) competence为abilities的最贴近的同义词。
〖词汇〗
affirmative action: (美国鼓励雇用少数民族成员及妇女等的)赞助性行动，积极措施
quota: 配额，限额，定量
nepotism: 裙带关系
creed: 信条，信仰
dexterity: 灵巧，熟练，敏捷
degradation: 1.降低，降级，贬黜 2.落泊，堕落
〖中译〗
按限额实施的赞助性行为——所谓赞助性行动，指的是以种族或性别以及能力为基础的雇工做法——的反对者们坚持认为，无论是受雇者还是未受雇者，若不以才干做为唯一的评判标准的话，都会遭受不公正之累。