The key phrase (as is likely obvious) is "unable to decide." The implication is that the child's attitude "went back and forth" between the two choices. When someone is uncertain in this manner, he or she is said to "waver" between multiple options. (Generally speaking, "waver" means shake or quiver. A wavering person "quivers" between two options.)

By reading the sentence, we can infer that the blank should contain a word like "cheated" or "violated," since we are looking for a way to describe how African Americans didn't receive equal treatment under the laws during the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. The word "impinged" means violated, and works the best. The other words do not work in this sentence: "palliated" means eased; "consummated" means completed; "ameliorated" means improved. 

By reading the sentence, we can infer that Joe's aggressive body language and disrespect towards his colleagues had a negative effect. Thus, we are looking for a word that would suggest that his attitude made problems worse. We are looking for a word that means something like "continued to make worse." The word "perpetuated" is correct because it means cause something negative to continue. The other words do not work in this sentence: "satiated" means made full or saturated; "assimilated" means became accustomed to; and "ameliorated" means improved or made better.

Since the sentence indicates that the students lingered around school, the best answer choice is "loitered." This means that the students waited around a specified area without doing anything. The other answer choices have the following meanings: "dispersed" means became less concentrated by spreading out over a wide area; "budged" means moved slightly from having been stuck before; "loped" means ran with large steps; and "flaunted" means showed off.

Because the girl being discussed in the sentence tried "to bully her sister into doing her chores," the best word choice for the blank is "chastised," which means reprimanded. The girl's parents would likely reprimand her for such an action. None of the other answer choices makes sense in the blank: "affirm" means confirm; "defy" means reject the authority of or go against; "repress" means stifle; and "qualify" means add additional information to a statement in order to make it seem less sure or absolute.

The best hint for this sentence is the participial clause "leading to many disagreements among fighting parties." Perhaps the two tempting wrong answers are "ignore" and "overcome." Certainly, if members of the family begin to ignore the will's interpretation, this could cause disagreements—indeed, is likely to cause them. "Overcome" would be a bit odd in this sentence. We might overcome an opponent; rarely do we say that we overcome an interpretation of a will or another legal document. The word "contest" can be used as a verb in addition to its more regular noun form. As a verb, it means oppose.

The author tells us that the gender gap between men and women is massive and that we need to correct this imbalance. The best answer choice is “equalize,” which means to make equal. To provide further help, “implicate” means get into trouble; “detonate” means set off an explosion; “calculate” means work out the answer; “demoralize” means take confidence away from.

Since the sentence is talking about the Civil War, we can infer that the states who felt the government was working against them would want to break away from or leave the Union. This means the correct answer is “secede,” which means to separate from and become independent. To provide further help, “recall” means call back or remember; “receive” means to get; “surmount” means to defeat, to overcome; “declare” means announce. 

The fact that the family had to go home early implies that they had to shorten their vacation. The word that means the same as shorten is "curtail."

The man faked an illness so that he could receive benefits, which is the definition of "malingering." "Lucid" means unclear, "skeptical" means questioning the truth of something, and "meticulous" means paying close attention to detail.