All that we know is that the new boss is using the situation at the company to his own advantage. Apparently the workers like the owner. The new boss is using this goodwill to do something beneficial for himself. Whenever someone uses another person in this way, he or she is said to exploit that person—or, in this case, the group of people. Although this is a kind of abuse, the word "exploit" best describes the boss's actions.

The general idea in this sentence is that a lack of coffee caused problems for Joseph's driving. Put another way, we could say that not having coffee would "hamper" his ability to drive. Whenever our abilities are lessened in this manner, we can also say that they are "impaired." Often people talk about being "impaired" by drinking alcohol. Since alcohol alters your brain functions, it can impair your abilities as well as your grasp on reality.

As grim as it might sound, the sentence hints that the police are going to dig up the dead body. The word "exhume" is taken from two roots that literally mean to take out of the ground. The prefix "ex-" is likely very familiar to you, meaning out of. The "-hume" portion is likely less familiar. The word "human" actually is related to this root, as though we were made from the ground or the earth.

It seems that one of the two people in this agreement has chosen to break his or her promise.  Whenever we "violate" an agreement, we choose to ignore the obligations of that agreement. The word can also be used in the sense of meaning to disrespect something or someone. For instance, you can "violate" someone's privacy by bursting into his or her room, forcing yourself into the area rudely.

The best option is the word that most closely matches the particular action that is being described in the sentence. Clearly, the vandals are drawing on the school building. Their drawings are negative. We know this both from the description of the action as well as the fact that they are called vandals. Now, this indicates that they are "defacing" the school. The word "deface" describes what someone does when he or she ruins the appearance of something. This is an appropriate word to describe what these people have done!

The idea of this sentence is that Mark knew that he couldn't rely on his own skills to advance in this world. Instead, he relied upon others to "raise" or "elevate" him to a higher station of life. Whenever you "fawn over" someone, you flatter him or her, hoping to get some benefit from that person. Therefore, the best option in this sentence is "flatter." When we do such flattering, we always make our kind remarks with an eye to what we can gain from these "kindnesses."

The general idea here is that the defendant can't prove his innocence of the crime. Whenever we "establish" something, we set it up. When a business is established, that is when it first opened up. (Think of signs that say, "Est. 1839." This means, "We were established—i.e. opened up for business—in 1839.) In a secondary sense, "establishing" the facts of the case involves proving something to be, in fact, true. This is the way that the word is being used in this sentence. The defendant wants to convince the jury that he is innocent.

"Obscured" in this context means hidden. The sentence states. "I could not see..." which implies that the speaker is hidden. The other answer choices do not match the context of the sentence.

Be careful with that, do not mar the surface! Whenever something is marred, it is scratched up or broken.