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).

We can infer from the sentence that we need to pick out an adjective that can describe organisms that have “all” been “killed off.” While both “extinct” and “extant” might look like potentially correct answers because they look and sound similar, “extant” is an adjective that is used especially to describe a document and means still in existence. This is clearly an antonym of the word we’re looking for, so “extant” cannot be the correct answer. “Extinct,” however, is an adjective that can mean no longer in existence; so, because “extinct” best describes the dinosaurs after they were all killed off by something, “extinct” is the correct answer.

We know from the sentence that "snowstorms are extremely rare" in the tropics, so we need to pick out an adverb that means something like "rarely" to describe the interval at which they occur in the tropics. So, neither "always" and "usually" can be the correct answer, because each of those words is an antonym of "rarely." "Seldom," however, is an adverb that means rarely, and because it best fits the context of the sentence, "seldom" is the correct answer.

Because the sentence is comparative and begins, "Though all of the flowers smelled wonderful," we can infer that we need to pick out a word that means smelling good. While "fragrant," "rank," and "fetid" all describe smells, "rank" and "fetid" describe disgusting smells, so they wouldn't make sense in the sentence, comparing hyacinths to other "flowers [that] smelled wonderful." "Fragrant," however, is an adjective that means having a nice smell, and because "fragrant" best describes the smell of a flower, "fragrant" is the correct answer.

Students should be "attentive," or paying attention, if they want to absorb the material taught during class. "Careful" means cautious; "outgoing" means friendly and extroverted; and "distracted" means not fully paying attention to something.

In this sentence, the blank should include a word that describes the opposite of staying in the United States. The word that would make the most sense in the blank is "abroad," which means in a foreign country. None of the other answer choices would make sense in the blank: "campaign" means run for a political position, like for president; "intercept" means interrupt; "perish" means die; and, "plummet" means sharply decrease.

We need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "surprised" or "confused" because the sentence tells us that the audience thought that Larry was sure to win the Presidential Award. So, "shocked," an adjective that means surprised, is the correct answer choice because it best fits the sentence's context. None of the other answer choices would make sense in the blank space: "annoyed" means irritated; "tired" means exhausted; and "ecstatic" means very excited or elated.