The word "clemency" means mercy. The word "mercy" is the best choice because it is a part of the definition of "clemency." Considering the other choices, "cruelty" means great unkindness directed towards another sentient living thing, "intent" means purpose, "discombobulation" means confusion, and "danger" means hazard.

"Penchant" means a liking or fondness. For example, if someone has a "penchant for chocolate cake," they really like chocolate cake. "Fondness" is thus the correct answer.

A "qualm" is a sense of uneasiness or misgiving about something, often due to the still, small voice of one's conscience. A swindler may have no qualms about bilking you out of your hard-earned money. Don't be tricked into picking "storm" for this question—there may be a "calm" (but not a qualm) before a storm, and a "squall" (violent gust of wind) may accompany a storm, but these words are unrelated to "qualm."

An “affront” is an insult, an offense. To provide further guidance, "allay," soothe and mollify are all synonyms. All three words mean to calm, to ease. Finally, malice is a feeling of hatred, an intent to do harm.

A "pact" is an agreement. The best choice is "contract," which means a legally enforceable agreement between two or more individuals or organizations. Considering the other choices, "break" means smash into parts, "credit" means the ability to buy things that you will then pay for at a later time or trustworthiness when used as a noun and attribute as a verb, and "rule" means a code by which people abide.

An "accolade" is an award or an honor, so the answer closest in meaning to "accolade" is "prize," which is a noun meaning a reward, a trophy, or something given to commemorate an achievement. Considering the other answer choices, none are as close in meaning to "accolade" as is "prize": "treasure," when used as a noun, means wealth, riches, or valuables; "money" is a noun meaning standardized exchangeable currency; and "presentation" is a noun meaning the way in which something is given to someone, the act or event of giving something to someone, or an informative talk that often uses visual aids.

The prefix "brev-" comes from "brief" and means short or quick. “Brevity” means shortness, briefness. To provide further help, “pompous” means proud and arrogant; “preeminent” means highly regarded, in charge, most distinguished; “sanctimonious” and “pious” are synonyms of one another and both mean self-righteous. 

"Tirade" is a noun that means "a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation," so we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like " a long, angry speech." While "conversation" has to do with speech just like "tirade" does, "conversation" means "an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people : the act of talking in an informal way," so it cannot be the correct answer because "conversation" does not include any angry connotations like "diatribe" does, and it's a conversation in which two people participate instead of a one-sided speech like "tirade" describes. "Rant," however, when used as a noun, means "a spell of ranting; a tirade," and when used as a verb, it means "speak or shout at length in a wild, impassioned way." Because "rant" is the answer choice closest in meaning to "tirade," "rant" is the correct answer.

"Amity" means peace or friendship. The answer choice closest in meaning to "amity" is "fellowship" since it indicates camraderie or companionship. As for the other choices, "allure" is attraction; "crudeness" is roughness; equality refers to the concept of giving everyone equal treatment; and obedience is the quality of complying with requests and demands.

Since "income" is a noun that means money received on a regular basis for work, we're looking for another noun that also means earnings. "Debt" may sound like a potential answer because it is a noun that has to do with finances and often discussed along with "income," but "debt" refers to money that is owed to someone else, so it is actually an antonym of income and not the correct answer. "Salary," on the other hand, means a fixed regular payment made by an employer to an employee, so it is the closest in meaning to "income" and the correct answer.