"Hazardous" means dangerous or potentially causing harm. Battling thieves and riding through a dark woods could both be considered dangerous activities; therefore, the context clues in the sentence point to "hazardous" as the best word choice. 

If Ryan is usually full of energy, but his behavior today is confusing his friends, then we are looking for an opposite of the given phrase "energetic and talkative." "Apathetic," a word that describes the lifeless behavior of a person who doesn't care about anything, fits the bill. Behavior of this sort would definitely surprise and possibly worry Ryan's friends. "Motivated," "engaging," and "enthusiastic" are terms that describe a person with passion for the world around him, which is the opposite of the answer that we are looking for.

We're looking for the answer choice that makes sense in the context of the sentence, which tells us that Mr. Johnson "focuses on the good things in life." The clear answer here is "optimistic," which refers to a hopeful and generally positive attitude. If Mr. Johnson is usually positive despite having a hard life, the words "negative" and "unhappy" are clearly incorrect. "Perplexed," which means confused, does not fit here either.

The sentence tells us that the company hosts an event on the same date every year. Things that occur once a year are described as annual. To further help you, fortnightly means occurring every two weeks; perennial means frequently reoccurring or constant.

The context of the sentence tells us that the water in the pool is not deep enough for diving. Shallow water is water that is not deep. To further help you, nimble, agile and flexible are all synonyms and mean having good balance.

Because her work was praised, we can assume that it must have been good or great in some way. Outstanding means brilliant, exceptional, or very good. To further help you, malevolent, diabolical and wicked are all synonyms and mean evil; lackluster means not good enough, lacking, or deficient.

You probably already know that smoking is a bad habit. The second part of the sentence describes the ways in which it makes your life worse. From the context, you can figure out that the blank word must mean something like harmful. This should lead you to the correct answer, destructive. To further help you, fecund means fertile, abundant, plentiful; bashful means shy; protective means inclined towards looking after something or making sure something is safe. 

The arrangement of the words describing the subject suggests that the answer choice means something similar to polite and well-mannered. The correct answer is courteous, which means considerate or polite. To further help you, the other four answer choices are all synonyms of one another and mean rude.

The sentence suggests that the author feels very sure of his/her success. When someone is sure of themselves, we call them confident. To further help you, apprehensive and anxious are synonyms that both mean worried; menacing and threatening are synonyms that both mean intending to cause harm or scary.

The sentence tells us that Jenna’s coach thought she was not trying hard enough; this suggests that Jenna’s attempts were lazy or not good enough. The answer choice that most closely resembles lazy is “lackadaisical,” which means half-hearted, lazy. To further help you, "bemusing" means confusing; "whimsical" means silly; "menacing" means scary or threatening; "absurd" means ridiculous or silly.