"Perusing" means casually examining. "Exacerbated" means to have made something worse. Since "perusing" often suggests moving slowly, Bobby doing so would only worsen Elaine's impatience.

“Divulge” may sound like a possible solution for the first blank, but remember that “divulge” means to reveal something that was supposed to be a secret. “Promulgate” has a similar meaning. One of the definitions for “agitate” is to cause to move back and forth. To “purge” is to rid of what is impure or undesired. “Agitate . . . purge” is the correct answer.

The general idea is that anger had spread through the society. The word "percolate" can be used to describe this slow process of something spreading through a given medium. Perhaps you have heard of percolators for making coffee. These machines would continually spread water over coffee grounds so that the flavor of coffee could seep into the water below the netting. Here, the sense of anger percolated through the society. As regards the second blank, it is arguable that such a situation would make them love someone who openly mocks or questions the authority of those who are in power. To "denounce" someone is to condemn them or, at least, to condemn their actions. Hence, this is a good option for the second blank.

“Only two days after” implies that there will be a sentence shift. “Holy matrimony” is a common phrase used by Christians to describe marriage. It is unlikely or likely impossible that the act of separating a couple could be “in holy matrimony,” so “partitioned” and “sundered” can be eliminated. To “espouse” means to marry. To “annul” is to officially cancel or make void. “Espoused . . . annul” is the correct answer.

The description of the thief as "incorrigible" is a clear indication that the thief has done something wrong. Of the answer choices, only "escaped" and "absconded" make sense in the first blank. In the second blank, the context of the sentence seems to indicate we are looking for a word which most closely means set aside for. Of our remaining two options, only "appropriated" fits this description. Thus, we have found our correct answer choice.

The fact that the employee is described as irascible suggests he is likely to act out in an angry manner. With this in mind, the first blank should be a word which closely means get angry with or yell at. There are a couple of options in the answer choices which come close, so we need to take a look at the second blank. The context of the sentence suggests that the employee's poor behavior at work is weighing against his chances of receiving a raise. Only the combination of "harangue" and "militate" fits both blanks, and it is therefore the correct answer.

The key phrase is "although . . ." and the sense of the juxtaposition is completed by "they often end by creating wholly cynical citizens." The sense is that the regimes begin by making the citizens very engaged, but they end in destroying this civic involvement; therefore, we can immediately eliminate "increase . . . inviting", "coup . . . deceiving," "waxing . . . leading", and "waning . . . discouraging." The best fit is "decline . . . inciting" because it captures the sense of the loss of spirit as well as its initial inspiration (even if through incitement).

A number of these answers are meant to be traps, though not all for the same reason.  Clearly a matter of money is involved, so one might want to call the old man a "scrooge" but this fails not only because of its colloquial tone but also because "nasty" doesn't fit.  "Pecuniary" tries to catch one who has a good vocabulary but is not appropriate at all in this context. He might have been a "rake" but certainly couldn't be effusive with his family's needs. The answer with "troglodyte" doesn't make sense. "Miser . . . parsimonious" fits perfectly.

The sense of the sentence is that the people do not leave the area often and rarely receive new insights from outside their precincts. Saws are more than tools used in the shop—they are also proverbs. Hence, don't be tempted by the amusing "hammers." Although "lessons" might be tempting, Lilliputian (from Gulliver's travels) means trivial or small (often taken physically). Perhaps one could consider the town to be Lilliputian, but "insular" would be better—and "maxims" particularly matches well with "saws." "Insular" is derived from the Latin word for island, indicating isolation.

The boss switches between vastly different personalities, so he is volatile or mercurial. When he is dismissing them with short answers, he is being a "misanthrope," not a "dolt," which implies he is stupid, or a "hypochondriac," which means he is paranoid about his health.