The "although" at the beginning of the sentence gives a clue that the pair of words should be opposites. The first word should be a negative word, since we can guess that the chef did not like the fruit. In the latter half of the sentence, she's "singing its praises," which should lead us to suspect that she likes it. Let's test our first word choices. "Content" doesn't work; it means satisfied with something, and since our prediction is that the chef didn't like the fruit, we can rule that out. Likewise, "ardent" means passionate about something. "Strong" means exhibiting great force—that makes no sense! "Suspicious" would work, meaning feeling unease or uncertainty, but the second word in the pairing doesn't match "singing its praises." "Apathetic" means uninterested or bored. Our best choice is "ambivalent," meaning having mixed feelings about something and "fervent," which means showing great enthusiasm.

If the dog follows his master, we could guess that the first word shows loyalty or faithfulness. If the wilderness is "perilous" (meaning dangerous) and the dog faced the danger with courage, the second word should mean something like bravery or not giving up.

Given our prediction, we can quickly eliminate a few word pairs. "Vacillation" means the process of changing your mind from one thing to another and being indecisive. "Hyperbole" means obvious exaggeration, and "isolation" means the state of being completely separated from others. Since the dog is following his master, that doesn't make sense! None of those word pairs fit the context of the sentence. What about "allegiance"? That means loyalty to a person or state, so that fits, but "frailty" means weakness or ill health—that certainly doesn't match our prediction! The best choice is "fidelity," which means faithfulness, and "staunchness," which means firmness or steadfastness.

The contrast in this sentence is between Donald, who apparently reads quite a bit, and his father, who cannot read. The second blank does not imply anything about laziness or anything of the like. The most we can say for the second is that it is related to the fact that Donald's father is unable to read; therefore, “illiterate” works well to fill this need, meaning unable to read. The negative “il-” is attached to the base “literate,” which means able to read and is related to other English words like “literature,” “literal,” and “literary.” The word “voracious” well describes Donald’s reading habits. Although the word is often used to indicate a deep desire for food (e.g. “a voracious appetite”), it can more broadly mean that one has a great eagerness for a given activity.