Anomaly—something that is abnormal or incongruous

Anathema—a loathed or detested thing

Cockroaches are prolific around the world and a person who is afraid of bugs would not want them around.

This sentence describes the prerequisites of being a classical pianist, making reference to something having to do with the musician's hands, and something to do with his or her approach to music. Of the five options, "probity" means honesty or fairness and is not used to describe hands. "Dispatch" means speed, but in the sense of traveling speed ("moving with great dispatch"), not in the sense of playing quickly.

"Vigor" means energy or liveliness and might work, but it is not used in conjunction with the word "manual," as it usually refers to the whole of the body and not a part.  

That leaves "dexterity" and "fluidity" as the two possible traits of a pianist's hands, both of which are possible. But "effrontery" is impudence, impertinence, or rudeness, none of which seem likely to describe how a musician interprets music, while "virtuosity" means have a high level of artistry or accomplishment; therefore "dexterity . . . virtuosity" is the correct answer. 

We know that the words we're after will have negative connotations, since the customer "accuses" the manager of being something. Knowing this, we can eliminate the answer choices that include "support of," aggrandizement of," and "defference to."

We're then left with "castigation of" and "antipathy toward" as options for the first blank, and "iconoclast" and "misogynist" for the second. "Iconoclast" means a person who criticizes traditions and/or traditional beliefs, so it doesn't fit in the sentence, while "misogynist" (hater of women) works perfectly, since the manager specifically does not like the female waitstaff in his restaurant. The correct answer is thus "antipathy toward . . . misogynist."

Antoine "embraced" something that he thought was harmless and inoffensive. The word "but" implies that the other people in the sentence, his family, did not agree. The description of the family as devoutly religious implies that this characteristic was central to their reason for not agreeing with Antoine and they regarded him negatively for doing this; therefore, the first word must be something that a devoutly religious family would be bothered by, and the second word must be a noun with a negative connotation. 

Looking at the first word possibilities, the only ones that might fit are "atheism" and "philosophy," both pursuits that might cause issues with a devoutly religious family. Fundamentalism and monogamy are traits that would likely be regarded positively, and quiescence just means to be quiet or still—something very neutral that would be unlikely to cause much of a reaction from a religious family one way or another. Looking at the second word, we have the choice of "pariah," or outcast, and "intellectual," or thinker. Embracing philosophy might cause one to become a thinker, and a devoutly religious family might be suspicious of that, but there isn't really a strong enough connotation of negativity with "intellectual." "Pariah," on the other hand, indicates that Antoine's family essentially rejected him, and since atheism is a lack of belief in God, it fits that a devout family would reject a member who "embraced" this.  

An "interregnum" is a period between reigns or governments, while a "demogogue" is a person who achieves power through appeals to the mob. Most of the other choices are nonsensical in this sentence. "Intermission . . . statesman" might vaguely fit, but a statesman is generally regarded as a good leader, or at worst a neutral one, and an intermission is a break in time between performances or games, not governments. 

From the context of the sentence, we can tell that Harry was living as a wandering person. While tourisim could (in a broad sense) be considered "wandering about" to see things, this is really a far stretch. The word "vagabond," however, literally does mean "a person who wanders around," often having no means of employment. This would well describe Harry's state. After these years of wandering, he wants to find somewhere to "settle down." That is, he wants to find a "homeplace" (of sorts, at least). The word "habitation" means a living place, often implying fixity or stability.

The first blank is best known by the implied contrast with "alone." In contrast to being alone, one can be gathered in a group. A "multitude" is a large number of people or things together. It is clearly related to "multiply" and "multiple." All of these words come from the Latin meaning "many." The answer for the second blank is best figured out by looking to the subordinate clause beginning "with its many." This clause describes global politics as having many actors (that is, people doing things) and numerous concerns. The implication is that it is "complex."

Your clue words here are "unfortunately" and "external." "External" means located or seen on the outside or surface of something. You are looking for two synonyms which primarily have to do with externality. So, the answer choice that makes the most sense in the sentence's context is "appearances . . . features." The other words all deal with more internal traits.

This sentence is contrasting "abhorr[ing] (hating) school’" with "the pleasures of the real world.” In addition, the structure of the sentence indicates that both words should be nouns. "Tedium" refers to boredom while a "hedonist" is a pleasure-seeker. This is the only pair of words that satisfies the context of this sentence.

A good strategy for some questions is to use the process of elimination to figure out what answer choices could work. You can see what the sentence is going for, paraphrase it, and choose answers accordingly. For the first blank, look at the first half of the sentence: low prices on some type of things bring lots of people on Black Friday, so it would make sense for the word that goes in the first blank to be a synonym for "lots of" which "plethora" (large amount) is, but "paragon" (epitome or most positive example) does not at all.

For the second blank, look at the second half of the sentence. There, people are trampled due to the inevitable something of thousands of people in one store. Something like "disaster" may fit in the blank. Of the answer choices, "catalyst" (spark or stimulus) and "entropy" (chaotic disorder), it is "entropy" that makes the most sense, as the sentence is implying that the disorder of the crowds causes several deaths. This means that the correct answer is "plethora . . . entropy."