Because bat’s are active at night, they can be said to be “nocturnal” creatures. “Nocturnal” means sleeping during the day, awake and active at night. To provide further help, “eternal” means lasting forever; “biennial” means occurring every two years; “morose” means very sad and serious; “frank” means honest. 

The author says he tried to do something, then uses the word “but” to suggest that failed. This tells us that the hamster was not interested in getting into the author’s hands. The correct answer is therefore “uninterested,” where the prefix "un-" means not. To provide further help, “jovial” means happy, in a good mood; “unimportant” means not important; “inept” means lacking in skill; “underwhelming” means disappointing. 

Since the sentence tells us that Nicole "never shows up late to work," we can infer that she shows up on time to work. That means that we need to pick out an answer choice that means "tending to be on time." "Punctual" is the answer choice that best fits the sentence's context, as "punctual" means tending to do things or arrive at events on time. None of the other answer choices have anything to do with showing up to work late or on time: "smug" means showing annoying self-satisfaction; "timid" means shy or reserved; "generous" means giving freely without expecting anything in return; and "tense," in this context, means anxious.

The word "erratic" means unpredictable, unexpected, or not consistent or regular. A person who is tidy one moment and incredibly messy the next would be an unpredictable one; therefore, "erratic" is the correct answer choice. The other answer choices do not make sense in the sentence: "inadvertent" means accidental or unintentional; "gregarious" means sociable or friendly; and "opportune" means favorable or appropriate.

The word "adept" means very skillful or well-trained. Within the context of this sentence, it is logical that people would want a skilled or well-trained builder to help them with repairs. Therefore, "adept" is the correct answer choice. "Egregious" means extremely bad; it is the opposite of what is needed to complete the sentence. "Impulsive" means acting without forethought; this is another characteristic one would not want in a builder. "Acrid" means bitter or harsh, especially in relation to smell or taste; it bears no relation to the sentence and is also incorrect.

This sentence begins with the word "although," which immediately suggests that a contrast that will develop in the sentence. Context clues indicate that the missing word will be one that contrasts with "in the city"; "rural" means having to do with the countryside rather than cities, which makes it the ideal answer.  "Urban" means having to do with cities rather than the countryside, so it is the opposite of "rural" and therefore incorrect. "Devout" means very religious or spiritual, and "hazardous" means dangerous. Neither of these words makes sense within the context of the sentence, and therefore "devout" and "hazardous" are each incorrect.

We know that the smell "indicated that some food was likely rotting" and that it "made Patricia plug her nose," two context clues that suggest that the smell was unpleasant, so we need to pick out an adjective to describe the smell that means something like "unpleasant" or "disgusting." "Putrid" is the best answer choice as "putrid" means rotting and smelly. "Delicious" means pleasant in taste, so it cannot be the correct answer, as the sentence has nothing to do with taste and the odor is certainly not pleasant; "fleeting" means existing only for a short time and also does not make sense in the sentence, as we're not told anything to make us think that the smell is temporary; and "sullen" means gloomy or bad-tempered, so it clearly cannot be the correct answer either.

Let's break this sentence down into two parts. In the beginning of the sentence, we see that 1) a carton of eggs has been dropped and 2) Michael expects all of them to be broken. The next part tells us that Michael is "pleasantly surprised" by the actual contents of the carton. What would pleasantly surprise someone who expects to see a dozen broken eggs? Only seeing that not all of them are broken after all. The only word that means "not broken" is "intact," which refers to an object that has retained its original form instead of being damaged. None of the other choices are both positive and related to an object's physical state.

This sentence names "intentionally misleading others" as the worst behavior possible for a salesman, while also saying that people in this profession should "try not to be __________." Obviously, the speaker thinks that salesmen should try not to mislead others on purpose. Which answer choice has this meaning? "Trite" means unoriginal or common, as in an overused phrase; this is not related to intentional stretches of the truth. Both "innocuous" (harmless) and "sincere" (genuine) are positive qualities, so a salesman wouldn't strive not to exhibit them. This leaves only "deceptive," which describes a person who tends to deceive or mislead other individuals.

The part of this sentence following the semicolon tells us what is vital: the timing at which the vault's keys are turned. Since we are given no further information, we can assume that our answer will refer to multiple actions that happen at the same instant. "Simultaneous" is our answer, since it designates actions that occur concurrently (at the same time).