If you know the word "hypochondriac," this sentence is very easy. When someone is called this, he or she is being said to be overly worried about being sick, often imagining that he or she is sick when in fact he or she is not. A "malady" is a sickness, so it is fair to say that a hypochondriac believes that he or she is experiencing a malady of some sort or other—even if this is not really the case.

The two most tempting wrong answers likely are "probe" and "dissect," which would perhaps be done by the police in order to get the needed bone samples. However, these descriptions are not normally used to describe these kinds of processes in such cases (though they might be options if you had no other fitting words). Certainly, they do not wish to "incinerate" (burn) or "cremate" (burn to ashes) the body. If anything, they need to recover it from wherever it is. Given the options and the sentence, it is safe to assume that it has been buried for at least ten years. To "exhume" something is to remove it from the ground, often meaning to remove a body from its burial place. The word literally means "out of (ex-) the ground (-hume)." The "-hume" portion is related to "humble" which has the sense of being "lowly" (not arrogant or "haughty"). Metaphorically speaking, being "near the ground" is rather "lowly."

We can infer that because the shoppers were "running between stores in a frenzy to find good deals," they must have been hurrying around the mall. So, we need to pick out a verb to describe the shoppers' movements that means something like "hurried." "Strolled" cannot be the correct answer, then, because while strolled describes a kind of movement, "strolled" means "walked in a leisurely way," and the shoppers are not "walking in a leisurely way" because they are "running between stores in a frenzy to find good deals." "Bustled," however, means "moved or went in a busy or hurried way," and because it is the answer choice that best conveys the shoppers' hurry, "bustled" is the correct answer.

In this context, we are looking for a verb that would describe a miserable person's cry for help as it is cut off, which we notice by the dash at the end of the first quotation. Ran does not make sense, and laughed and exhalted are both the wrong tone. While stated is a perfectly reasonable answer grammatically speaking, it does not capture the moment as well as faltered, so that is the proper answer.

The sentence indicates an increase in intensity between being annoyed and the word that we need. Several of the options are relative synonyms for annoy ("vexed," "miffed"). The other options do not adequately express an intensification of anger. However, the word "enraged," though it may seem a bit strong, is indeed the best option.

The sentence is setting up a contrast of intensification. The cooling of temperatures is going from being "cold" to being colder. This is the key thing that you need to capture. The word "frigid", strictly speaking, means "very cold." None of the other options are appropriate for conveying intensification. The only other weather-related word, "balmy," means pleasantly warm. This definitely does not fit!  

This sentence contrasts how Gilbert acted in public and in private. Therefore, the best option for the sentence would be "privacy," for this describes his home as being the private space in which he was quiet—as opposed to the public space that is mentioned in the first part. The word "privacy" helps to establish the contrast quite clearly.

The old man was not just sitting on the porch, empty-headed and doing nothing. He was carefully watching things—observing them with care. He was not necessarily judging his neighbors (at least not yet). All we know is that the sentence is contrasting empty staring to the blank that we have to fill. "Observing" best fits for this—as the old man tries to figure out who stole the lawn decorations.

The key word in this sentence is "sufficient," which helps us understand the contrast being expressed. Although many might want to buy appliances with all the "bells and whistles," it is generally the case that they need one that "works well enough." The best adjective for describing this would be "basic." Words like "cheap" and "worthless" are too negative to match the clue "sufficient."

This sentence works by building from a legitimate amount to one that is extremely large and "over the top." The idea is that it is an almost incomprehensible expense to buy and own a hundred cars. Such an expense could be called "extravagant," meaning having no restraint or limits. The word is actually related to the word "vagrant," meaning a wandering person without work. Something "extra-vagrant" wanders around outside of the borders of being acceptable. It is "over the top."