While a few of the answer choices could fit, one will fit best. The sentence concerns language abilities, and the correct choice will describe that. "Eloquent," meaning fluent and impressive in speech, is the best fit.

While quite a few of the answer choices fit the sentence, the best choice must be found. The contrast with "no harmful side effects" means the correct answer will mean harmful or disastrous, which is the definition of "deleterious."

Janine's response was surprising, and Rob expected it to be "begrudged," or miserly. This means Janine's response was the opposite of begrudged. "Effusive" describes praise or positive commentary that arrives in large amounts, which works. "Fatuous" means foolish, which wouldn't be positive. "Reluctant" means the same thing as begrudged so it wouldn't be suprising. "Feckless" means careless or without regard, but it has a negative connotation, which also doesn't fit. "Sagacious" means wise, which might be positive but doesn't contrast with praise that is grudging.

A disaster has occurred in the community described in the sentence, and Laura is a local politican. Many expect politicians to be strong, stable role models in such crises, and as such "stoic," which means enduring hardship without showing pain, is the best choice here. 

We're looking for an adjective that describes how the professor's lecture was lengthy and dull. While both "bombastic" and "prolix" are adjectives that can describe speeches, "bombastic" means high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated, whereas "prolix" means using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy and is the best choice for the context of the sentence.

We're looking for an adjective that describes the fake nature of Olivia's compliments, so we're looking for a word that means something like fake. Because of this, "disingenuous," which means not frank, candid, or sincere, is the best answer choice.

The small use of the ring in the wedding indicate the gesture was quite moving. "Revolting," "horrifying," "senseless," and "obscene" each have too strong of a meaning having to do with shock or terribleness. "Poignant," meaning deeply moving, is the correct answer.

The phrase "less attentive" and the structure of the sentence indicate that the man was quite attentive to his mother. "Disinterested," "cynical," "aloof," and "boorish" all would mean he was ignoring or even mistreating his mother. "Obsequious," which means servile or submissive, is the only word that correctly completes the sentence.

The sentence is looking for an adjective to modify "aluminum" that helps to explain why casual cooks might prefer it to a cast iron skillet. Aluminum is already lighter than iron, so the missing word probably has something to do with the coating that is mentioned. 

Since the word is preceded by "an" rather than "a," it must begin with a vowel, so "cumbersome" isn't correct (and besides, it means the opposite of lightweight). "Amalgamated" means "put together from several parts." That could potentially describe this aluminum pan, except the sentence doesn't say anything about what the alumnimum might have been put together with. "Ossified" means turned to bone, which seems like a bad way to improve an aluminum pan. "Undiluted" refers to a concentrated liquid and is nonsensical when applied to a metal pan. "Anodized" specifically means to apply a coating to a metal surface using electricity, so that is definitely the best word here.

The traditionalist politican proposed an "uncompromising solution," while the dissident voices of the public felt differently. The blank follows the phrase "not as . . .", thus, "unequivocal" is the correct choice, as the public felt the issue was more ambiguous than the politican made it out to be.