Since John is considering the academics of the school not merely as an observer but as one judging their compliance with standards, it is best to say that he is evaluating the school. The word is derived from the familiar prefix “e-”, meaning “out of,” and the base that is related to the word “value.” An “evaluation,” is a drawing out (in the sense of making explicit and noted) the value of some thing, often against some standard of comparison.

The only hint that we have in this sentence is that Lucille was given funds to go to the store. The best option will be one that at least implies that she is going to the store to buy the food. The word “procure” fits this need, meaning to get something with discernment or care. This at least implies the purchase of the goods, though you should note that it has the added notion of care. The word comes from the Latin “curare,” meaning “to see to” or “to attend to.” It is thus related to words like “curator.” A “pro-curer” attends to matters on behalf of someone else.

Since Ethel planned to look at “every line” of “every receipt,” one could fairly say that she planned a thorough investigation of the matter. Although one could somewhat weakly say that she decided to review these details, the best option is “scrutinize,” which indicates that she will look carefully and deeply at each and every detail in question. When something is subjected to scrutiny, it is given very careful review.

The word “adamantine” means “unbreakable.”   It is related to the word “adamant,” which is derived from the name of a type of hard stone in legendary tales, and means “not changing one’s mind.” Since John’s will was not as unbreakable as he claimed it to be, it could be said that it was overcome by temptation on numerous occasions. To “succumb to” something is to fail to withstand it. In this sentence, the implication is that John failed to withstand temptation when it arose.

We can infer that because the mayor "[paid] for [the senator's] expensive meal," he was attempting to gain favor with the senator. So, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "gain" and can refer to favor. "Lose," then, cannot be the correct answer because "lose" means the opposite of the word we're looking for, and the mayor clearly wasn't trying to lose the senator's favor by paying for his meal. "Curry," however, when used as a verb in the phrase "curry favor," means "ingratiate oneself with someone through obsequious behavior," and because it best describes the mayor's behavior, "curry" is the correct answer.

"Venerate" means to revere, respect, or give praise to. "Engender" means to cause something to happen. "Mitigate" means to lessen or diminish. "Rarefy" means to thin or make weaker. "Occlude" means to block or prevent.

The implication in this sentence is that the scent of the books remained for many years after their removal. There is nothing mentioned concerning the quality of the smell or about it being transported into the room. The word “linger” in general means “to remain for a long time.” It is related to the family of words connected to “long,” here in the sense of “staying for a long time.”

The trap answers to this question are “condemned” and “criticized,” for the reader might think that Gina’s friends made some official judgment on her crass manners. Instead, the key phrase is “they did not wish to be associated.” Therefore, they must have acted so as to exclude Gina from their group. When someone is “ostracized,” he or she is excluded from society. The word comes from the name of the hard material on which Greeks would write their decisions to banish someone from society (thus ostracizing them).

Since the sentence states that the principle did his action “in order to prevent” the damages from gum, it is safe to say that he did not merely consider the permission or even “scrutinize” (look carefully at) it. The sense conveyed is that he no longer allowed this permitted act. When someone “revokes” something, he or she literally “calls it back.” The word comes from the prefix “re-”, here used in the sense of “back,” and the “-voke” portion, which means “to call or name.” The latter is found in words like “invoke,” “invocation,” and “provoke.”

Although one might say that Bob is stealing from his parents, the sentence only uses language of using without payment. When someone relies upon another party without giving anything in return, such a person is often called a “leech” from the name for the small worm that often lives by sucking fluid from a host organism. This is what Bob is doing, at least with regard to his parents’ housing, utilities, and food.