For this question, it is critical that you have the appropriate vocabulary. To "lament" something is to cry and moan greatly about that thing. We are told that Sebastian wept and wailed for the passing of his cat. Therefore, we are sure that he was "lamenting" the death of the animal.

Gregory is not trying to make an argument to his mother about the vegetables. The sentence implies that he is trying to trick her by his little "maneuver" of putting the remainder of his food onto his father's plate. Therefore, he is trying to deceive her. A deception is a kind of trick that tries to make someone think that something is true when it is not. Something is called "deceptive" when it "tricks" us into thinking something that is not true.

Notice that the parents are going to "erect" the tree house. This means that they are going to put it up. (Whenever we say that someone is "standing erect", that person is "standing up straight.") From this, we can see that the parents are aiming to build a tree house. This means that the only acceptable option is "construct", which is a verb meaning to build or make.

The key fact to note in this sentence is that the boss, in fact, likes Ferdinand and Imelda more than the other employees. The first half of the the sentence implies that she claims not to like any employee more than the others. This interpretation of the first half is supported by the fact that the second half talks about her liking Ferdinand and Imelda more than the others. Therefore, we can say that the boss says that she does not favor any employees—though, apparently she actually does!

This sentence implies that Regis does not want to buy any of the company's products. When you do this, you boycott the company and its products. This is not the same as a strike. A strike happens when employees decide not to work. Now, there is nothing in the sentence that implies that Regis wants to destroy the products. He merely does not want to support the company. He likely just does not want to buy the products. Hence, "boycott" is the best option.

Notice in this sentence that we are told that the soldiers are going to go away somewhere else. This means that they are leaving their current fort. They are abandoning their location. A synonym for this would be "forsake," which is the best option provided here. When we "forsake" something, we leave it behind.

The idea of the sentence is that a host should show the new arrival that he or she is aware of the new person's arrival. Technically, if the host were to discuss the person, this could let the new person know that the host was aware of the arrival. This is pretty rude and is not the normal use of a discussion. Perhaps you could interrogate the new arrival—asking many questions. This too would let him or her know that you were aware of the arrival. The simple word "greet" is the best option. If you greet the new arrival, you certainly show them that you are aware of his or her presence—and you make him or her feel welcomed!

Whenever someone uses someone else, often employing unjust tactics, this person "exploits" that other person. In this sentence, the owner clearly is misusing his employees in this way. By making them work long hours without pay and also sleep on the premises, he is getting benefits from them without justly giving them what is due to them. This is an example of exploitation.

The word "merely" helps to indicate that the child must have "really" loved his mother. It hints that there is an intensification of the word "love" expressed in the second half of the sentence. Whenever we "adore" something or someone, we love that thing greatly. Often, this word is used to describe the kind of love and worship that is expressed in religion; however, it can also simply mean to love greatly.

In general, you might find it easiest to interpret this sentence as saying that Filbert was finding it difficult to calculate the amount that he should tip; however, we do not have that as an option. The word "compute" is a fine synonym for "calculate." A "computer" gets its name from its ability to perform mathematical calculations. Put another way, we can say that a computer is able to "compute." That is what Filbert is trying to do—all the math to figure out how much he should tip.