To solve this problem you need to consider what someone's calming words might lead to. The correct answer is "He soothed the man . . . " "Soothed" means assuaged, calmed, made to feel better and more relaxed. The other answer choices all suggest a result that would not occur from someone speaking calmly. Additionally, "exacerbated" and "aggravated" both mean intensified and made worse; "bedlam" means mayhem, disorder, chaos, madness; "ensured" means made sure happened; "preserved" means saved, maintained.

To begin with you need to know that a "genius" is someone very smart. So, which of these answer choices describes what might happen when someone is compared to a genius? The correct answer is " . . . I feel stupid." To "compare" means to measure something against something else. So, when measured next to a genius the speaker feels stupid by comparison. Additionally, "unattractive" means not attractive, ugly; "splendid" means excellent, great.

To solve this problem you need to determine which of these answer choices describes something that might happen if you heat an ice-cube. The correct answer is, obviously, that it will melt. You need to be careful of this question because the incorrect answers contain illogical conjunctions. If a conjunction does not sound right to you, but you have no other information to go on, you should trust your instincts. The human brain is hard-wired to understand language and sentence structure, and even if you do not understand what a specific conjunction means you might still recognize what it cannot mean. 

To solve this problem you first need to know that "accumulated" means gathered, piled up, collected. So, if the snow was gathering and collecting on the ground which of these answer choices is the most likely result? The correct answer is " . . . and had to be shovelled." The other answer choices all describe something illogical within the context of this sentence. Additionally, "frigid" means very cold; "temperature" means the measure of how hot or cold it is.

To begin with "wealthy" means rich, not poor. So, which of these answer choices matches with this comparison that the speaker is making? The correct answer is "One difference between us . . . " The other answer choices either contain incorrect conjunctions or else are related to similarities not differences. Additionally, "likeness" means similarity; "notwithstanding" means not counting, not considering. 

To solve this problem you have to determine which of these is a likely reason why someone might take medicine. "Medicine" is drugs used to cure sickness. So, the correct answer is " . . . to feel better." The other answer choices are either illogical or contain improper conjunctions, like "although" and "despite."

To solve this problem you need to know that "ascending" means going up. So, if the plane keeps going up then it is going " . . . higher and higher." The other answer choices would either make more sense with "descending" (going down) or else contain improper conjunctions or are total nonsense.

To solve this problem you need to determine which of these answer choices describes a reason why the teacher would tell the speaker to calm down. The correct answer is therefore "I was overenthusiastic . . . " "Enthusiastic" means excited, so "overenthusiastic" means too excited, out of control. All the other answer choices do not seem like actions that would cause a teacher to tell a student to calm down.

To solve this problem you have to determine which of these answer choices describes why someone might never want to see someone again. The correct answer is "Because she is so mean to me . . . " But, in this problem you have to be careful because there are several incorrect conjunctions, like "even though" or "although" which might trick you into picking the wrong answer.

The use of the word "already" suggests that a certain situation existed and then was intensified as in "I was already poor, and then the thief took all my money." So, which of these answer choices is a continuation of the subject's weakness? The correct answer is " . . . and the hunger made it worse." The other answer choices are either illogical within the context of this sentence or else contain conjunctions that do not make sense, like "however" and "in spite of."