Based on the context of the sentence, we know the first blank will describe some quality that will be similar to Ellen's friend group, described as "studious and hardworking." Given this context, "sedulous," meaning dedicated and diligent, and "industrious," meaning diligent and hardworking, both would make sense. "Obsequious," meaning sychophantic, "hidebound," meaning unwilling to change because of tradition, and "conniving," relating to being conspiratorial or planning something immoral, don't make much sense here. As such, we know our possible choices are either "sedulous . . . shirked . . . nonplussed" or "industrious . . . malingered . . . vexed." 

We know the second blank describes some action relating to Ellen favoring her private interests over her schoolwork. "Shirked," meaning avoided or neglected, fits here, and "malingered," meaning feigned an illness to avoid something, also could potentially fit, but doesn't seem to work quite as well. Moving to the final blank, we know the word describes something that contrasts with "shock." "Nonplussed" means not phased or not surprised, whereas "vexed" means annoyed or frustrated, which does not fit nearly as well. As such, we know the correct three choices are "sedulous . . . shirked . . . nonplussed."

Based on the second sentence, which states that Cindy "spoke passionately," we know that the first blank involves some positive characteristic that reenforces the passionate character of her speech. Based on this context, "verve," characterizing a speech delivered with passion, and "gusto," meaning enjoyment had as a result of doing something, both make sense. While "lucidity," meaning clarity, would not be nonsensical, it would also not convey the passionate nature of her presentation. "Trepidation," meaning fear or apprehension, and "commiseration," meaning emotional sympathy, would not make sense here. 

After looking at the second sentence, we know that the second blank is describing some quality of the obstacles that have to be overcome. We can infer from this context that the blank is some negative characteristic, probably relating to difficulty. Given this context, "harrowing," meaning distressing, "exasperating," meaning infuriating, and "inordinate," meaning excessive, could all make sense here; however, because we have already rulled out "commiseration" for the first blank, we know we can also disregard "inordinate," leaving us with only "harrowing" or "exasperating" as possibilities. "Cantankerous," meaning bad-tempered, and "inadmissible," meaning invalid, would not really make sense in this context.

The context for the final blank is provided by "giving them the same voting rights as their male counterparts." Through the above analyzed process of elimination, we have been able to narrow down our choices to either "verve . . . harrowing . . . enfranchise," or "gusto  . . . exasperating  . . . remunerate." "Remunerate" means to pay someone for a service that person has provided, which doesn't really fit here. "Enfranchise," however, directly means to allow to vote legally, which fits perfectly given the sentence's context.