Without the support of the congregation, the minister had to find new methods of fundraising. "Openly" and "bombastically" both make little sense with the sentence considering the congregation's lack of support. "Holistically" and "ambivalently" both communicate an inappropriate lack of resolve by the minister to be correct. "Covertly," meaning secretly, is the correct answer.

The opposition to note is that between the word to be chosen and the “grating and unmeasured voice” of David’s mother. In opposition to such an annoying voice, the best description of his grandmother’s voice would be “euphonious.” The word comes from Greek roots literally meaning “good sounding.” The prefix “eu-” can be found in “eulogy,” meaning “a good word (often spoken at a funeral) and “euphemism,” a type of word or expression that makes a more coarse expression seem less uncultured, for instance, the use of “to pass gas” for the crass word “to fart.” The “-phonious” portion means “sound.” It is found in words like “symphony,” meaning “sounding (often in the sense of ‘playing’) together” and “telephone.”

A white or light color in one’s cheeks is a symptom of sickness or ill-health, and “pallid” most closely means a paleness, typically attributed to poor health or sickness. The correct answer choice is "pallid."

When something is "vacuous", it is without thought. It is like a "vacuum" of thought—an empty space without anything in it, metaphorically speaking. When a person's appearance is vacuous, it generally indicates that he or she is not thinking. "Vacuous remarks" are really empty words with no meaning or thought behind them.  Thus, given the clause "with not a thought crossing his mind," the best option here is "vacuously."

We really cannot say too much about the politician or his speech. We do not know if he was intentionally lying, and it is also not obvious what was his rhetorical style; however, we can say that his conclusions did not "follow" from the content of the speech. This implies that his reasoning was quite bad. Thus, it was fallacious or full of fallacies. This describes reasoning that is bad and in which the conclusions do not follow from the premises. Sometimes, in solving questions of this kind, it is just as important to realize how little information a sentence has given you.

While the Summa totius logicae Aristotelis might be an interesting work in its own right, all that we know about it is that it was wrongly attributed to Thomas Aquinas. Something that is "spurious" is false. Now, this can at times mean falsely attributed. A "spurious" work is one that is said to have been created by a person when it, in fact, was not.  

Even if you do not know this word, you can find the correct option by elimination. The word "illogical" is merely trying to trick you because of the "logicae" in the title. There is nothing that indicates that it is intriguing, either. The word "trivial" (meaning unimportant) might be tempting, but, really, the sentence says nothing about the importance of the text. "Vexing" means annoying, which really is not appropriate either.

The idea of this sentence is that finally there were periods when it was not raining. It is not a matter of having only a certain kind of rain (whether it be light or torrential). It is about having only periodic rain. The word "intermittent" describes something that is not steady but instead has breaks in between its actions. It comes from Latin roots meaning sending (-mittent) between (inter-). Intermittent activities allow for spaces between the happening of that activity. Thus, the sun could shine during the period of intermittent showers.

With a sentence like this, do not misread the clues. Yes, the woman is old, and you may even think that she is nasty; however the real point is that she lives a very lonely life without much contact. The word "insular" comes from the Latin "insula," meaning island. When we "insulate" something, we try to protect it from outside influences. Thus, an insular person is someone who has very little outside contact. This is really what the sentence is indicating about the old woman discussed therein.

First of all, be careful not to misread the sentence! It says that the pain is made worse by the ointment! You might read "ointment" and think "relief". Be very careful! Thus, the ointment helps to increase the pain. The only option that matches this is "exacerbate". The word comes from roots that mean to make more bitter or harsh. Someone with an "acerbic" temperament is sharp and biting—often being quite nasty with his or her words.

The contrast here is between the daredevil lifestyle and one that is not so risky. Likely, Peter found his life to be boring. The word "mundane" comes from the Latin for world. "Mundane" affairs are those that are just part of the normal day-to-day world. They are believed to be boring because they are common. (Sometimes "mundane" concerns are contrasted to ones that are "heavenly" in a religious sense.)