“Dwindle” means to shrink or reduce, to make smaller. To provide further help, “augment” means enhance, add to in order to make better; “ailing” means sick or hurt; “rejuvenating” means healing.

“Furl” means to fold up. It is commonly heard in the expression “to unfurl,” which means to unfold, to reveal. To provide further help, “confer” means award, bestow, give; “congeal” means thicken or come together; “foreign” means from another country; “fluctuate” means vary.

To "garner" is to gather or assemble in one group, so the best answer choice is "gather." In regards to the other answer choices, "emit" means give off or produce; "distribute" means disperse or deal out, and "extol" is a verb that means praise.

To "scrounge" for something such as food is to actively look for it or "seek" it. This is different from the other word choices that mean the following: to "threaten" is to endanger; to "deter" is to discourage; and to "falsify" is to lie.

"Melt" means to be liquified by heat. This is similar to "thaw." 

The word "pursue" is a verb meaning follow or chase. Imagine that a man in front of you drops his wallet on the sidewalk. If you were to follow behind him to return the lost property, moving quickly and making sure not to lose sight of him, you would be "pursuing" the man. This word does not imply either the start of a new friendship or the act of irritating another, so "befriend" and "annoy" can be eliminated as answer choices. To "escape" means to get away or flee from a constraining situation, so this word is also incorrect.

"Dwindle" means decrease in size or amount, so "diminish" is the correct answer. None of the other answer choices are close in meaning to "dwindle": "inflate" means increase or fill with gas or air; "deceive" means lie or trick; "rectify" is a verb that means correct or make right; and "imply" is a verb that means hint at or suggest without stating explicitly.

"Raze" can be a tricky word because its homophone (a word that sounds the same but has a different meaning), "raise," means almost the exact opposite. To "raze" something means to destroy or demolish it. It is related to the word "razor," which means to remove by scraping.

"Slumber," when used as a verb, means sleep or doze, so the answer closest in meaning to "slumber" is "sleep," which is a verb meaning be in a state of rest in which consciousness is suspended. Considering the other answer choices, none are as close in meaning to "slumber" as is "sleep": "travel" is a verb meaning transport oneself from one location to another, often in the context of a vacation; "drive" is a verb meaning operate an automobile, and "rest" is a verb meaning lay down and relax. While "rest" may seem close in meaning to "slumber," "slumber" specifically means "sleep," so "sleep" is the correct answer.

Don't confuse the word "taper" with the piglike mammal the "tapir," or think of it as "one who tapes" something. The word "taper" used to refer to a candle. From there it came to mean "rising like a flame," and eventually came to its present meaning of gradually decreasing (much like how many candles decrease in size from the base to the wick). Both physical objects (like a cone or pants) and less-tangible things (like anger or sales figures) can be said to taper when they decrease.