The structure of the sentence indicates that the bad grades were a surprise, and therefore he was held in high esteem for his abilities. This means "admonished," "criticized," "degraded," and "despised" can all be ruled out. "Lauded," meaning praised and celebrated, is the correct answer.

The professor "rarely disagreed with his students," although he still wants them to "defend their position."  This means the correct answer should indicate he is challenging them.  "Gainsay," meaning to automatically contradict or go against, is the best choice among the answers.

We need a noun that represents a person, so we can discard "halcyon," an adjective defined as denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful. "Neophyte" and "tyro" both mean beginner, so we are left with "anathema" and "ascetic." As "anathema" means something or someone vehemently disliked, and "ascetic" means a person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention; "ascetic" is the correct choice.

To "extol" means to praise. It makes sense that the critic, finding little wrong with the play, offered a good review. "Lambaste" is the opposite: to criticize severely.

The boss obviously scolded her, which is the meaning of "castigated." “Maligned” means slandered, which isn't quite the same thing. The other answers don't make sense in context.

It is common knowledge that alcohol abuse is deleterious to the health of the liver.  Naturally, Donald’s doctor would want him to "abstain" (that is, refrain) from alcohol consumption.

The word that fills in the blank must consider three things: 1) The contract still exists; it has not been "obliterated"; 2) The crooked attorney wants the farmer to sign the contract; a "nullified" contract is a non-binding contract, even when signed; and 3) It would not likely be in the crooked attorney’s interests to explain to the farmer how he is cheating him; it would not be in the attorney’s interest to "clarify" or "explicate" the terms of the contract. "Obfuscate" is the answer because it is in the attorney’s interest to deliberately make the contract difficult to understand.

The word that fills in the blank must help characterize the President’s decision making in light of the writer’s ignorance regarding the President’s motivations. The President’s decision making, for the writer, has always been covered in mystery, so "enshrouded" is the correct answer.

“Discerns” mean to perceive something, in this case, the moral ambiguity presented as a major theme of Frankenstein.

The sentence says that Harold was going to ask for a raise, but then he found out that sales were down. This means the news prevented him from asking, so "thwarted" is correct. “Thwarted” means that he was hindered from carrying out his plan.