The fact that Laura's friends feared to introduce anything interesting seems to hint that the conversation was quite boring and uneventful. The general idea is that it has nothing of real "bite" to it. The word "aseptic" directly means having no disease. Think of an antiseptic agent. This gets rid of anything that is diseased. A "septic tank" is where human waste is stored when there is no connection from a house to a sewage system. Apparently the friends feared anything that could disturb the peace or, to put it another way, the tranquillity of the gathering.

The first two blanks are opposites of one another. Contextual clues are "mild flavors of inland cuisine" and "he much preferred... of the coastal regions." The clues for the last blank are "indulged so frequently" and "discern each individual flavor." Of the answer choices, only "insipid, piquant, and epicure" fit the meaning of the sentence. 

For the first blank, we need a verb that means something like stop. "Abstain from," "forbear from," and "cease" could all work, as they mean just that. For the second blank, we're looking for an adjective that means something like "causing harm"; either "deleterious" (causing harm or damage) or "pernicious" (having a gradual harmful effect) could work. For the last blank, we need a noun that means something like "fondness"; in choosing between "predilection" (a preference for something) and"platitude" (a moral saying used too often to be interesting or thoughtful), "predilection" is the better choice, so the answer is "abstain from . . . deleterious . . . predilection."

We know that initially, not a lot of evidence supported the scientist's theories. We know the word for the first blank is a adjective with a negative connotation because of the phrase "at best" that follows it; from these context clues, we can select "ambiguous," "esoteric," and "tenuous" as possible choices. For the second blank, we need a word similar to "confirmed," so "corroborated" and "vindicated" are both suitable choices. For the final blank, we need to choose between "accolades" (awards granted as acknowledgments of merit) and "elegies" (laments for the dead), and "accolades" is the best choice. So, the correct answer is "tenuous . . . corroborated . . . accolades."

The best clue for this sentence is "doppelgänger," though this is a rather difficult word. It means a "double" of someone—coming from the German word that means "one who goes doubly" (rather strange, but understandable). Even if you do not know this meaning, you can also see that he has "shifting personality features." Only one option provides this for the first blank, namely to "emulate." This means to reproduce. The word "earned" makes sense on the whole, as his actions led to his coworkers giving him this title. Apparently, they simultaneously have two different attitudes. This is at least hinted by the word "simultaneously," so "vexed" (meaning annoyed) is a good contrast to "amused."

The word "paring" provides our first and clearest clue. It means to trim the outside of something. This means that the gardener is doing such cutting. "Cut," however, is only partially synonymous. "Pruning" is the process of paring a plant. The second blank refers back to the hedges and trees, which can be called by the general term "vegetation." Finally, the third blank describes what will happen if such vegetation is not cut properly: it will become "overgrown."

There are few relevant clues in the sentence to help you solve this problem, apart from the use of the phrase "more agreeable" towards the end. This clue suggests that broccoli must therefore be "less agreeable." Other than that, you have to solve by seeing which of the five answer choices fit best into the blanks together. "Aversion" means dislike for, repelled by;"duped" means tricked; and "revolting" means disgusting. If the toddler strongly dislikes broccoli, he is unlikely to be tricked by the disgusting vegetable being hidden in his mashed potatoes. To provide additional help, "affliction" means disease or problem; "pondered" means thought about; "appealing" means desirable, attractive; a "polemic" is a strong and passionate verbal attack; "deceived" means tricked; "unadulterated" means not altered, not changed; a "juxtaposition" is the comparison of two things; "hollowed" means made a hole through; "hallowed" means holy or sacred; "venerable" means old and respected. 

Because the subjects of this sentence seem to want to hug the two little babies as much as possible it seems likely that the blanks will relate to this urge. “Vivacity” means attractive, lively and fun; “garner” means collect, gather; “dynamic” means energetic, exciting, enjoyable. To provide further help, “eloquence” is the ability to speak clearly and well; “articulate” means eloquent, able to express ideas clearly; “devious” means sneaky; “charisma” means charming and engaging in a way that inspires affection from others; “oblige” means force, make to do; “abstemious” means not indulging in things that you want to do that are dangerous or harmful; “probity” means honesty, being strongly moral; “inveigh” means denounce; “malleable” means bendable, flexible; “hedonism” is the pursuit of pleasure above everything else; “contrive” means cause a situation to arise using deceptive or false methods; “spurious” means fake.

You are told that the neighbor's son is "well-behaved" and shows "patience." From this information it is reasonable to conclude that the son could be described as "stoic" meaning calm, not emotional, impassive. Further, if the son is demonstrating his patience it makes sense that he is also demonstrating "compliance" or obedience, by not running around and disrupting his parent. Finally, the last blank is clearly related to running around heedlessly, so the correct answer is "ramble." To provide additional help, "irritable" means easily annoyed; "garrison" refers to troops stationed in a fort to protect it; "erudite" means well-educated, scholarly; "gravitas" means dignity; "curtail" means reduce in impact; "fleeting" means not lasting very long; "emigrate" means move to a new country; "apathy" means not caring; "wizened" means ancient, very old; "ignominy" means shame, disgrace; "appropriate" (when used as a verb) means take something not belonging to you and refit it to fit your need. 

From context it is clear that the author of this sentence has strong feelings about banks; it is not clear what the nature of those feelings are, so you have to try to see which three words fit together logically. The correct answer is, therefore, "indignation" (anger at a perceived injustice, umbrage); "exorbiant" (excessively costly); "eschewing" (abstaining from). To provide additional help, “mendacity” means untruthfulness, dishonesty; “cumbersome” means heavy, a burden; “espousing” means declaring; “credulity” means a tendency to believe everything; “wanton” means random; “delineating” means making a list of; “indulgence” means allowing oneself to gratify a desire; “halcyon” means happy, idyllic, a period of time in the past that was carefree; “jettisoning” means getting rid of; “zealotry” is passion, uncompromising and intense belief in some dogma; “miniscule” means tiny; “remedying” means fixing.