The word “lucre” is often used in an expression taken from the King James Bible, which greatly influenced expressions used in spoken English. That expression is “filthy lucre,” meaning “ill-gotten money.” The word “lucre” originally came from the Latin for “gain” or “profit.” It often takes on the sense of greed, but among the options given in this question, the best answer is the simple word “money.” The word is related to “lucrative,” which means “producing much profit.”

Often, we speak of the “lore” of this or that group. For instance, “A normal part of the middle school’s lore were the tales of the students who had been trapped in the supposed dungeons under the English teacher’s classroom.” This example is meant to show also how the word often is associated with “tall tales” and (perhaps more negatively) outright lies; however, this is not necessarily the case, for the word “lore” merely means “a tale that is passed down, often orally.” Among the options provided “legend” best provides this neutral meaning.

Strictly speaking, the “chaff” is outer husk of wheat that is separated from the actual grain during process. An image in the Bible concerning God’s judgment is the image of “separating the chaff and the wheat”—implying a less than joyous end for the chaff. The image is cited merely as an example here. When the term is given a more general sense, it means “worthless portion of something.” This notion of worthlessness is expressed by the word “dross.”

When someone parodies the work of another person, he or she makes a mock imitation, exaggerating various aspects for the sake of amusement. For instance, an author might write a book that retells a story very similar to that of another while deliberately attempting to show how ridiculous the original was in a given aspect. Satire often uses such exaggeration, though it is often aimed at criticizing the vices of others.

Do not confuse “duel” with “dual.” They are both related to the word “two” but in different ways. The word “dual” means “having two aspects,” as in “dual personalities.” The word “duel” means “a fight or contest between two people or parties.” Often, such a contest is one of life and death, but it can also be something as simple as a duel being conducted by playing a board game.

When the word “shambles” is plural, it means “state of chaos” in conversational usage. The strict meaning implies that the state of chaos is one of death and destruction. Here, the former is implied, as none of the other words express the sense of massacre corresponding to the strict sense of the word. When used as a verb, “to shamble” merely means “to walk around awkwardly.”

The word “finality” clearly is related to “final,” meaning end or goal. It means “something conveying the sense of representing the end of a set of options or actions.” For example, one could say, “The teacher’s words had an aura of finality about them; thus, the students presumed that there would be no debating the topic any longer.”

Although the word “annunciation” is often used for a specific Catholic holiday, it has an root meaning that should be obvious from the form of the word. It is related to the word “announce,” and basically means “announcement.” The word now is most often used to describe the story of the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus to his mother Mary. It is called “the Annunciation” precisely because it is about this “announcement.”

The word “reproach,” when used as a noun, most properly means “an act of reprimanding” or “chastisement.” These are actions that communicate disapproval. Thus, when someone is said to be “beyond reproach,” that person acts in such a way that he or she does not merit disapproval. The word can be used as a verb to describe the act of expressing such disapproval, as in, “The professor reproached the students for their clear lack of dedication in preparing for class.”