To answer this problem you need to determine which of these answer choices would most likely be used to describe a man who struggles with young children. The correct answer is therefore "gruff" which means rough and blunt, serious and no-nonsense. Additionally, "dynamic" means energetic, forceful; "affable" means friendly, sociable; "cheerful" means happy, good-natured; "wise" means intelligent, knowledgeable.

If the subjects of this sentence made some fresh hot coffee than it makes sense that the earlier coffee was not hot enough. It could therefore best be described as "lukewarm" which means neither hot nor cold, mild in temperature. All the other answer choices are all loosely synonyms, they all mean hot or too hot, uncomfortably hot.

The city is described as having a lot of people so it could best be described as "populous" which means having a large population, heavily populated, full of people. Additionally, "demonic" means evil, like the devil; "secluded" means quiet and hidden away, remote; "introverted" means shy, reserved, desiring time alone; "extroverted" means outgoing, sociable, desiring time with others.

If it takes Peter an hour to find a pencil, this implies that the desk is not very orderly. If it were orderly, he would be able to find items very quickly. Therefore, his problems have nothing to do with it being dirty (at least as far as the clues provide details). Likewise, while an orderly desk may be impressive, the word "impressive" doesn't do much to explain why he might have such trouble finding his pencils. Therefore, the best thing to say is that his desk is not orderly or is not organized.

There are two clues to pay attention to in this sentence. First, notice that it is discussing the appearance of the food. In the second part of the sentence, there is an important additional clue. It states that while the food looks nutritious, it actually is not. When something is not what it appears to be, it can be called "deceptive." Generally, something is deceptive when it is untruthful, and we most frequently use this to describe a person or the words used by an untruthful person; however, as used in this sentence, "deceptive" can also be applied to things like the appearance of food.

Although leaves can completely "plug up" a drain or gutter, this is not what is indicated by this sentence. The second half of the sentence states that the gutters were not able to drain quickly enough. This only indicates that the flow of water in the gutters was slowed by the leaves. Even though this is a common word, it is the only option that actually works for the context clues provided.

The general idea is that after hearing the loud sound, the child began to pay attention to every sound that he or she could hear. When we are "alert", we have this kind of fixed attention. When we use "alert" as a noun, we are describing something that is supposed to "grab" attention. For example, a "tornado alert" is a kind of warning that is meant to make us aware that the danger of a tornado is very nearby.

If nothing else, Reginald must be a loyal friend. In this sense, it is fair to say that he is faithful. Whenever we are faithful to someone or something, we never abandon it. A faithful husband never falls in love with another woman. A faithful friend always helps those whom he or she loves. A faithful worker will stay with an employer for years.

Since the sentence begins with "although", we know that it will express a contrast. It contrasts Richard's concern with the actual reality of the mistake in question. If he is very worried about the mistake, this would seem to indicate that it is a major or large mistake. In contrast to this, it must have been a rather small mistake. Now, the best word to describe such a small or unimportant mistake is "minor." This word can be used to describe anything that is small or undeveloped. Hence, we call a young person a "minor" because he or she has not yet "grown up." That is, he or she has not fully matured. 

If we wanted to speak in a very straightforward manner, we could say that the idea proposed was not "doable." This is the basic idea of the second sentence. The word "practical" is used in several different ways. Sometimes, we contrast practical things to theoretical ones. Some people are always thinking of ideas that are too abstract, idealistic, or impossible to be accomplished. Such people are impractical. Whenever we say that someone is "practically minded," we mean that he or she likes to accomplish things—to "get things done." Whenever a task is not practical, it is not "doable." This is the case with the idea mentioned in the first sentence in this question.