The two key words in the sentence are "strange" and "peculiar." The correct answer needs to accurately describe what unfamiliar writing will do to high school students. "Befuddled," meaning confused, is the correct answer.

The subject of the sentence is uncomfortable with mental challenges, and that is contrasted by the correct answer choice. "Intellectual" and "philosophical" are able to be eliminated as near synonyms with "mental." "Puny" and "timorous," on the other hand, indicate a cowardice or weakness that does not make sense in the sentence. The correct answer is "brawny," which means having to do with physical strength.

This sentence is mostly a test of vocabulary. We know several things about the speech. It is: (1) meandering, (2) utterly incomprehensible, (3) jumping form topic to topic. The only word that might be tempting is "fuddled," because you will associate it with "befuddled";  however, either case would still be too weak in comparison with the correct answer, for "fuddled" would merely mean confused or stupified. The word "desultory" captures the full sense of our three points above, particularly number 3.

A journalist would not want to portray his or her views as "paradoxical," or self-contradictory. He or she would also not want his or her stories to be "enigmatic," or impossible to understand. Simple facts are also generally not "ambiguous," meaning open to interpretation, or "dubious," meaning doubtful. "Unequivocal," meaning certain, is the best fit here.

"Taciturn" means quiet and "tremulous" means timid, so neither of these make much sense. "Callous" and "irreverent" would make it seem like Sophie wants to show disregard for people who disagree with her, which could be the case, but it seems that her passion for these issues incites her to behave in a very out-of-character manner, so "pugnacious," meaning eager to quarrel, makes the most sense.

The key aspect of the second sentence is that John does not act his age but instead shows signs unbecoming of a man of thirty years. Certainly many of these words work in a broad sense. A thirty-year-old should not be "agitated" or perhaps "overworked"—at least he or she should not be so all the time; however, the most direct word is "puerile," meaning childish. The word comes from Latin "puer" for boy and describes the situation of John's temperament well.

The sentence conveys the idea is that LaRhette does not have too big of a problem with long commutes, but it also suggests that she is happy that she does not have to undertake long commutes anymore. Thus "averse," meaning opposed, and "indisposed," meaning unwilling, do not work at all in the sentence's context. "Agreeable," meaning willing, or "inclined," meaning leaning towards, could each work; however, since it seems that she prefers her now-shorter commute, even though she was used to longer commutes, "inured," meaning accustomed to, makes the most sense, because it doesn't convey as much of a positive view of LaRhette's previous, longer commute.

"Urbane" makes no sense whatsoever, as it means refined and would not really be used to describe someone's mass. "Lithe" and "slender" both mean lean, but the use of the word "though" indicates that the blank will be filled with something that means the opposite of "lean." An "inconsequent" mass would be a very small amount, which would once more indicate that Henry VIII's physique did not change much. Thus "ponderous", meaning of great weight, makes the most sense.

The studies disproved the claims of cigarette companies, meaning those claims had to be the opposite of "caus[ing] great harm." While other choices make sense in the sentence, "therapeutic," meaning curative or medicinal, is the best fit.

"Vestigial" means bearing a trace or (metaphorical) footprint. This best describes the evidence given of previous stages in evolutionary history. "Unquestioned" is perhaps the next best answer choice, though it doesn't give the sense of the antecedence mentioned in the sentence. Nearly as tempting is "recondite" (not commonly known) but given that the stages are bearing evidence (and hence aren't totally hidden like recondite things), do not be tempted to select this "smarter" word, though it seems to fit. "Clear" is far too vague, as is "exciting."