Answer: “excessive”  Note from the context that the advocates have already agreed that this is an expensive project, so they are not trying to say that the expense isn’t “big.” What they are trying to say is that the expense isn’t “too big” given that the benefits will outweigh the costs.  “Massive,” “large,” and “major” all mean “big” or “really big” but “excessive” means “too big” (or too much) - and that is the connotation that the sentence calls for.

Answer: “confident”   While all the answer choices express a form of confidence, “arrogant,” “brash,” and “presumptuous” all connote overconfidence to the point of being rude. That’s unlikely what Hannah’s father would be proud of while watching her compete in debate - he’s more likely to be proud of her confidence.

Answer: “surprised”  Note that the words all mean some form of surprised, but “shocked” and “stunned” don’t work well with the fact that Tarik knew he had earned an A and with the qualifier “pleasantly” beforehand.  He’s not completely shocked as though the grade came out of nowhere - he’s more relieved, so a softer form of “surprised” is the right choice here.

Answer: “renovation”  While all these words have similar meanings, notice the context of the passage - the goal is to protect these caves from damage, not to make them better or more modern or anything of that sort.  So “renovation” which means to redo something is the meaning that doesn’t work - the goal is to preserve the caves as they originally were, so renovation would go against that goal.

The sentence calls for a positive connotation of the word that fills the blank, since we know that the teachers appreciate this quality in Jamale.  “Inquisitive,” “curious,” and “precocious” are words with positive connotations to describe a student who asks questions and seeks out more information; “nosy” has a negative connotation for a similar quality and is therefore the word that does not fit in this context.

Answer: exploited. The word "loathe" gives us an idea that the answer is going to have a negative connotation because "loathe" means to hate. Exploit is the only option with a negative connotation and it means to make full use of and derive benefit from.

This sentence calls for a word that connotes urgency - the word “absolutely” preceding the blank suggests that the action is vital, and the fact that the sentence is about the safety of a baby also suggests that the practice of properly using car seats is critical, not just helpful.  The word that best provides this urgency is “imperative” as the action is not merely helpful, beneficial, or important - it’s absolutely necessary.

The context of the sentence above suggests that the slow pace and peaceful nature of the small, quiet town is a good thing in Callie’s mind. So we’re looking for a word with a positive connotation. “Mundane” is a synonym for “boring” which carries a negative connotation, making it seem like the quiet town is a bad thing.  “Serene,” “peaceful,” and “tranquil” are all positive connotation words to describe a quiet, relaxed scene.

Note that, by the context of the sentence, none of the things that happened could be considered good things in Becky’s mind, so the word that fills in the blank cannot have a positive connotation - it must be negative or at least neutral.  “Exciting,” “exceptional,” and “exhilarating” all have positive connotations, whereas “eventful” is neutral.  

We know that her friends admire this quality in Amanda, so we’re looking for a word with a positive connotation.  “Unplanned,” “disorganized,” and “haphazard” all have negative connotations, but “spontaneous” is positive, so that is your correct answer.