"Rising floodwaters" are not something anyone wants near them, and the town is presumably hoping to stop them. The correct choice will show the town was fortifying itself.  "Bulwark," meaning a barrier or fortification, is the correct answer choice.

The fact that he needed a holiday indicates what the CEO needed was a rest. While "renewal" and "reenergizing" might look potentially correct, they do not make sense when followed by "from his hectic work schedule." Of the given answer choices, only "respite," meaning a break during which one can rest, works appropriately in context with the mention of a "holiday" and the CEO's "hectic work schedule."

The list of issues that makes up the second part of the sentence indicates there were many problems, and the correct answer will indicate that. "Myriad," meaning a variety or large numbers, is the best choice.

"Abhorrence," meaning hate, and "distaste," meaning dislike, do not work in the sentence, because they each would imply that Alexander wanted to avoid gaining more power. "Apathy," meaning indifference, would indicate that Alexander did not care very much about power, so that would not make sense either. "Fondness" could work, but the sentence is stressing just how much effort Alexander put into getting power, so "voracity," meaning hunger, is the better choice.

The key word in finding the correct answer is "opponents." The organization will be saying something directly against what their opponents' statement said. "Rebuttal," meaning a countering and oppositional statement, is the best fit among the choices.

The use of "correspondence" indicates the main storytelling device in the novel is a series of letters. Epistle is simply another word for letter, and is the correct answer.

"As few words as possible" is the key phrase in the sentence for finding the answer. "Resplendence," "indulgence," and "extremisim" would mean an excess of words, while "esotericism" would conflict with a desire to make a clear point. "Brevity" is the correct answer.

"Popular superstar" gives the best clue to the correct answer. Many of the answer chocies would work with the second clause of the sentence, but only "adulation," meaning worship or strong love, makes sense with the entire sentence.

A few answer choices could work in the sentence, so the task with this question is to find the best choice.  The second clause in the sentence makes clear the story "as it was printed" was wrong or misleading.  "Retraction," meaning a withdrawal or cancellation of an article or statement, is the choice that best completes the sentence.

The key phrase in the sentence is "overcoming a great deal."  The correct answer choice will have a definition tied to that phrase.  "Adversity," which means hardship and struggle, is the correct answer.