It is being implied that James’ personality can be described two different ways here, and so we should look for words that mean the opposite of one another. For him to be a pleasure around during a “relaxing vacation,” we would expect him to be described as calm and peaceful. The answer "abrasive . . . placid" fits.

“Unattainable . . . discouraging” does not fit since the sentence indicates that the author did get the manuscript published, so he did attain a goal, and yes, that was discouraging but we need a word that relates to why the media lost interest so quickly.

“Onerous . . . gratifying” starts well since onerous does mean difficult and a struggle but why then would the situation be gratifying which means satisfying?

“Vexatious . . . querulous” sounds most promising since vexing could mean struggling as in working out a puzzle and “quer” is a root found in words like inquiry, question and query which indicates that an answer is sought.

“Oblique . . . laudable” does not seem to work in the sentence. “Oblique” is interesting since it might indicate an unusual direction as related to fame but “laudable” includes the Latin word root “laud.” The word refers to praise as in a laudable effort, laudatory and laugh which indicates merriment.

“Irascible . . . subtle” does not seem to work since irascible sounds like irritate, irate and ire which all relate to anger. Anger is different from a struggle and subtle does not relate to the media losing interest quickly.

This double-blank sentence gives you a clue with “although” since it indicates a change is found in the sentence. The words we are looking for might be opposite or at least related in some way. The first blank means “copied exactly from the master” while the second one means “execution was flawless” so begin by checking the answers to see which ones match the clues as stated in the sentence.

For the phrase “copied exactly from the master”: does exciting, derivative, repetitive, cryptic or interpretive match up best? Only “derivative” works well since it means taken from another source; although “interpretive” sounds good, it does not mean copied exactly.

Now try the second part of this answer: does “perfected” mean about the same as “execution was flawless”? Yes.

"Luminous" means brightly shining, while "ethereal" means otherworldly or angelic. An actress standing in a spotlight would be extremely well-lit and would appear to be like an angel.

“Torrid” means passionate when describing relationships and excessively hot when describing climates or temperatures, and “kindle” means start a fire or stir up. A movie about a passionate love affair caused a romantic spark to stir between Mary and Mark. Although “ardent” means passionate, “squelched” means extinguished, which doesn't make sense in the context of the sentence.

A prestigious school is well thought of and thus has difficult admissions barriers. Thus, both answers must reflect positively on the school; therefore "eminent . . . malleable" and "preeminent . . . insidious" can be removed on the basis of their negative and unstable admissions requirements. Assuming that admission is difficult because the prestigious school is of high caliber, the school could not be "abysmal." The last incorrect choice does not relate to positive or negative qualities of a university at all, in that "empirical" relates to data.

The correct answer refers to the dangerous nature of the virus ("virulent") as well as how the cities were adversely affected by it as a result ("depopulated"). The wrong answers only address one of these two; they either claim that the virus is helpful ("salutary") or not overly harmful ("benign") or that the cities were aided ("expanding" and "growing") by the virus.

The correct answer points to the complex nature of the writing that the author usually uses in his academic writing ("highfalutin") and how it made it overly difficult for an average person to understand ("arcane"). The incorrect answers fail to work in both categories; either they assert that the writing is not highbrow ("prosaic" and "unadorned") or that the audience believes that the book is too simple ("unembellished" and "facile").

The use of the word “but” indicates that the meaning of the second word must be opposite, or at least different, to the meaning of the first word. You also know that the first blank must be a description of a stunning quality attributed to the famous supermodel, and that the second blank must be similar in meaning to cute. The word "pulchritudinous" refers to great beauty, and "comely" is a synonym for cute. "Corpulent" means fat, and "prompt" means on time; "inscrutable" means mysterious; "nefarious" refers to doing evil, and "lavish" means fancy or expensive; "redoubled" means to increase, and "solicitous" means to be concerned.

"Canny" means shrewd and careful, while "impeccable" means flawless and exemplary. An investor with an always profitable portfolio would certainly be very shrewd.