We know that our subject plays chess and draws in his free time, so we should pick out an answer choice that describes the nature of these activities. Since "recreation" means "activity done for enjoyment when one is not working," "recreation" best fits the context of the sentence and is the correct answer.

We know that Fred felt as if he were going to be ill after he rode the roller coaster, so we should pick out an answer choice that has something to do with illness, specifically feeling like you're about to vomit. Of the possible answer choices, "pallor," "nausea" and "fever" could be used to describe someone who is sick, but "pallor" means "an unhealthy pale appearance" and one would not expect riding on a roller coaster to cause a fever immediately after. "Nausea" is the best answer because it means "a feeling of sickness with an inclination to vomit" or "loathing; revulsion," and so best fits the context of the sentence.

We know that the team is "dismayed" by the prototype, and "years of work had to be redone." So, we need to pick out a noun that conveys that the prototype did not work as planned. The word that best fits the blank is "malfunction," a noun that means failure to work as intended. None of the other answer choices have meanings that would work in the blank: "cohesion" means unity or coherence; "security" means defense or protection; "purpose" means motivation, basis, or reason, and "paradox" means a statement that seems logical but is actually self-contradictory.

A "bastion" refers to a fortress, but for most people not living in medieval France it more commonly speaks of a person or place that preserves or defends a more abstract notion. A woman who adheres to all the social rules of propriety and lives amongst neighbors who have no manners might be considered a "bastion of decorum." A radio station that alone plays harmonious music could be called a "bastion of euphony." "Mirage" would imply the mere appearance of learnedness (making it too similar to the surrounding lack of education), and "mirror" would require that the town itself be well-educated, too (so that there would be some local learnedness for the college to reflect).

In this case, "grit" means courage. "Cowardice" and "cravvenness" each mean fear, are antonyms of "grit," and don't make sense in the context of the sentence. "Pulchritude" means physical beauty.

If Sharon is trying to learn about a subject, like classical music, it can be inferred that she knows little about it - so "novice," which means beginner, is the best fit. "Authority," meaning expert, is an antonym of "novice," while "culprit" (guilty person) and "curmudgeon" (ornery person) have nothing to do with the sentence's context. "Musician" might look like a potentially correct answer choice, but it doesn't make as much sense in the blank as "novice" does.

The movie had an ending that was concrete, so one might describe it as having "finality," or certainty.

Since there has been a steady measurement of four feet of snow over the past seven years in upstate New York, then four feet of snow in the winter is the "status quo," an idiomatic expression derived from the Latin phrase for "the state in which" which means the current state of things.

A "sprite" is a tiny, fictional creature with wings, similar to a fairy, so "sprite" is the correct answer.

The list of items suggests that the blank word must be some term that broadly encompasses the artistic products of a nation. This should lead you to the correct answer, which is “culture.” "Culture" is the name given to the product of human beings from a certain time, particularly geared towards entertainment. While "music" is an example of a cultural production, it is too specific to be the correct answer, and "era" refers to a lengthy specified span of time.