What do we know about Mary's view of her new job at the law firm? First of all, we know that she did not accept the job due to its high salary. This eliminates "affluence," which refers to the possession of wealth. "Dereliction" means abandonment or neglect, so it is clearly not the correct answer; we can assume that Mary would not want to work for a law firm because it is being neglected. Similarly, "culpability" is too negative to properly complete the sentence. This word refers to a person's guilt or knowledge that they are responsible for a mistake or wrongdoing. The only remaining answer is "prestige," which describes the respect and admiration that often comes with a highly coveted job and thus makes the most sense in the sentence.

The subject of this sentence has made an assumption that he is above average at basketball; however, the author’s use of the word “but” suggests that the subject’s assumption was incorrect and that he is in fact average or below average. When someone is considered average in a negative way, we call them “mediocre.” So, the correct answer is “mediocrity.” To provide further help, “supremacy” means dominance; “ascendency” means rising up or improving; “misery” means great sadness; and “frivolity” means playfulness.

This sentence contrasts the unified groups that the parties used to be with their apparent state of being split into non-unified groups. When a group breaks into smaller groups within the larger whole, such smaller groups are called "factions." Likewise, "factions" often are in disagreement with the larger party, so this word is by far the best option for this sentence.

There are two clues to help you get this question correct. On the one hand, the "many" students are contrasted with "some" who are disconnected from political affairs. This implies that many must be involved in political affairs in some way or other. The second clue is the listing of activities in which they are involved, such as posting signs and protesting. Such people can be called "activists," meaning that they take not merely an active role but a very energetic one in promoting some cause in which they believe. This best describes such "involved" students.

We can infer from the structure of the sentence that we need to pick out a noun that means something like "seller," because "Gareth thought that he was more aptly described as a seller of other people's old junk." "Discarder," then, cannot be the correct answer, because a seller wouldn't discard his merchandise. "Purveyor," however, is a noun that means "a person who sells or deals in particular goods," and because "purveyor" best describes the seller in the sentence, "purveyor" is the correct answer.

We can tell from the context of the sentence that the detective wants the criminal to stop trying to lie to him since he knows the truth, so we need to pick out a verb that conveys that. While "ignore," "avoid," or "delete" might each all seem like potentially correct answers because they all are words with negative connotations, only "dispense," which in this context means "manage without; get rid of," fits the context of the sentence. So, "dispense" is the correct answer.

We know that "Jenna does not like spicy foods" and "ordered a plain cheese quesadilla instead" because the nachos were topped with so many spicy ingredients. So, we need to pick out an answer choice that is a verb that describes Jenna's action of ordering a different dish. "Dreading" might look like a potentially correct answer, but it doesn't quite make sense in the sentence's context; why would someone dread ordering one dish if they could just decide to order something else? Jenna clearly didn't have to order the nachos - no one made her. So, "dreading" can't be the correct answer. "Dissuade," however, is a verb that means "persuade someone not to take a particular course of action," and because "dissuaded from" best describes Jenna's actions of avoiding the spicy nachos in favor of a less-spicy quesadilla, "dissuaded from" is the correct answer.

We can infer that because the word in the blank occurred "even though" Jeffrey "had practiced his Spanish presentation for hours," we need to pick out a word that means something like "froze" or "was afraid." "Persevered," then, cannot be the correct answer, because "persevere" means "continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success," and wouldn't make sense as describing Jeffrey "saying nothing for almost a full minute." "Quail," however, is a word that when used as a verb, means "feel or show fear or apprehension," and because "quailed" best describes how Jeffrey froze with fear when he got up in front of the class, "quailed" is the correct answer.

Do not assume anything about Thomas' attitude when you are looking for the correct word for this sentence. Perhaps he "mocked" or even disdained all other pursuits. However, that would be adding to what can be said for certain based on the sentence's content. The key expression is "in order to attain." He does not necessarily mock or hate other pursuits in order to attain the one goal of becoming well known and successful. He merely needs to overlook or not undertake anything else. That is, he merely needs to "sacrifice" (metaphorically speaking) his other pursuits to the one goal of success.

The sense of the sentence is that after the long period of refusing to ask about directions, Robert finally decided to stop and ask for the needed information. To "inquire" is to ask for information. The word is related to words like "question" and "inquiry." All of these English words are derived from the Latin for to seek.