From the context of the sentence, you know that the answer choice must describe how the explorers left on their journey. That rules out "encamped," "fortified," and "garrisoned," which all mean settled down in one place. "Dreaded" means feared, so it cannot be the correct answer either. The correct answer is “embarked,” which means set off or began a trip.

From the context of the sentence, it is clear that the local store would be in support of the politician's campaign. The correct answer is “endorse,” which means to publically offer support for an individual or a cause. To further help you, "supplant" means replace; "juxtapose" means compare and contrast; "discourage" means to cause someone to lose confidence.

Since Gregory is said to be have become "extremely angry," it is fair to assume that his response to John is less than kind. Therefore, the options "interrogate" and "question" are far too mild for our needs. The verb "interrogate" means question (as in "interrogation," which is a process of questioning, often formal and for legal and/or criminal reasons). The word "recant" (meaning deny or renounce) does not apply at all. Likewise, "decimate" means exact a great amount of killing or destruction. This word implies physical violence, which we cannot here assume. The word "berate" means means criticize nastily, which best describes Gregory's angry response to the questions being raised by John.

While the verb, "to flounder," is almost certainly unrelated to the fish species, as a homonym the connection can help you remember the definition. If a flounder were to be out of the water for too long he would start to flounder, or flop about and struggle. "Rallied" and "flourished" would have nearly the opposite meaning.

Tony did things to get rid of his pain. "Alleviate" means to sooth, so it fits best in the blank. "Exacerbate," "amplify," and "accentuate" are all words that mean that his pain would be increased. "Delegate" means to give responsibility to.

We need to pick out a word that means something like "trusted," because we know that Sam "could trust Larry to remember to turn [his homework] in for him." While "gave" might look like a potentially correct answer, "gave" would not be grammatically correct if used in the sentence - Sam would not "gave his friend Larry with his homework." So, "gave" cannot be the correct answer. "Entrusted," however, is a verb that can mean either "assigned the responsibility for doing something to someone" or "put something into someone's care or protection." Because "entrusted" best describes how Sam gave Larry his homework to turn in, "entrusted" is the correct answer.

We know that the rival team "allowed [the school's new player] to score twelve points because they misjudged him and didn't guard him enough," so we can infer that we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "misjudged." While both "exaggerated" and "underestimated" are similar in meaning to "misjudged," "exaggerated" would not make sense in the sentence's context because if the rival team had exaggerated the new player's talent, one would assume that they would have guarded him more. "Underestimated" is a verb that means "estimated something to be smaller or less important than it actually is" or "regarded someone as less capable than they really are," and because "underestimated" best fits the context of the sentence, "underestimated" is the correct answer.

We can infer that because the Supreme Court decided that the law in question would be "unlawful to enforce" because "it violated the Constitution," the law was repealed. So, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "repealed." "Supported," then, cannot be the correct answer because it would not make sense for the Supreme Court to support a law that "violated the Constitution" and "would be unlawful to enforce." "Annulled," however, is verb that means "declare invalid an official agreement, decision, or result," and because "annulled" best describes the Supreme Court's reaction to an unconstitutional law, "annulled" is the correct answer.

From the context of the sentence, you know that the blank word must mean something close to “ruin.” The correct answer is therefore “mar,” which means ruin something or take away from the greatness of something. To help you, "lull" means calm, "hoax" means deceive with a practical joke when used as a verb, "goad" means encourage, rile up, or provoke, and "assist" is a verb that means help. 

So the sentence is fairly straightforward, and it's clear that Petunia needs to feel something opposite from "hate" about the chocolate cake with ice cream. Betrayed is not the opposite of hate, and neither is horded, both words do not make sense in context. Avoided is not a feeling, so it doesn't keep up the parallel sentence structure, but it also is not what Petunia would do to something she liked. Loves is close, she could love chocolate cake and ice cream, but it is in the present tense, while the demo sentence is in the past. So "adored" is the proper answer.