The author of this sentence added a room to his house making it bigger in size. When something grows in size or volume we say it has “increased.” To further help you, "decrease" means to make smaller; "accelerate" means to go faster; "decelerate" means to go slower; "assuage" means to calm down.

The context of the sentence suggests that even though the author has not seen his friend for years, he was still able to tell who she was when he ran into her. When we see something or someone we used to know but haven't seen for a while, we say that we “recognize” that thing or person. To further help you, "mistrust" means you don’t trust someone; "host" means to have a guest; "inspire" means to motivate or to make someone want to do something. 

The context of the sentence suggests that the blank word must mean pay attention to, therefore the correct answer is “focus.” To further help you, "abandon" means throw away or leave behind; "entertain" means amuse; "distract" means to take someone’s focus away from what they are doing; "urge" means strongly advise. 

The word "although" at the beginning of the sentence indicates that a change in tone will occur after the comma. The sentence tells us that artists may be successful while alive, but the value of their paintings may change in some way after their deaths. Since being "unique" is a positive factor, we can assume that the monetary worth of paintings "increases" when they are deemed unique.

Since John is an environmentalist, he would be most likely intersted in saving the Earth's rainforests. "Preserving," which means keeping in its original state, is the best answer choice.

Because the students did well on the test, we expect the teacher gave them something positive for their efforts. The best answer choice is "rewarded," which is the only positive answer choice.

We need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "create" or "produce" because the sentence tells us that the mitochondria serve as power suppliers for cells. So, "generate," a verb that means produce, 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: "destroy" means annihilate or demolish; "change" means become different; and "train" means instruct someone in a particular skill.

The second clause tells you that the first clause relates to not getting involved with other people’s business. The answer choice that matches this definition is “interfere,” which means get involved in other people’s affairs. To provide further help, “clasp” means grab on to; “ascend” means go up; “descend” means go down; to “compensate” is to give something to partially make up for misfortune.

The important clue in this sentence is the word "but." Like most students, Devon wants to receive good grades, but this "but" tells us that this is not happening. In addition, we are told that his hard work isn't helping. So, Devon's grades must be getting worse or, at best, staying the same. The words "improve" and "increase" are opposites of the answer that we want, because they would mean that Devon's grades are getting better. "Hurry," which means rush, is not relevant with regard to academic marks. This leaves us with the final choice, "deteriorate." This word means get worse or fall apart, so it is the perfect choice for this sentence.

In this sentence, the rebel leader needs to leave his country for a reason. The best answer choice is "endanger," which means put something in some sort of danger. If the rebel leader stayed in his country, he could have died. None of the other answer choices make sense in the blank: "persuade" means convince; "function" means work as something is expected to when used as a verb; "provide" means give and often refers to things that are necessary; and "protect" means defend.