The opposition being implied here is between an orderly, systematic approach and one that gathers things somewhat haphazardly. We cannot say that Mary’s approach is necessarily flippant or frivolous; however, it is fair to say that such a non-systematic approach is “eclectic,” which means “gathering from a broad number of sources,” often implying that this gathering is done without a single unifying principle (except perhaps in the tastes of the one gathering).

The opposition here is between someone who privately cannot speak well or articulately but apparently can do so when in a crowd. When someone can communicate articulately (and convincingly), such a person is said to be “eloquent.” The word is derived from Latin roots meaning “to speak,” found in English terms like “elocution,” “colloquy,” and “colloquial.”

The key word here is “magnify,” which implies that Matthew’s handwriting was not merely sloppy but also small. The word “minuscule,” (often spelled “miniscule”), means “very small.” Clearly, it contains the root related to “mini-”, meaning “small;” however, the original usage was applied to small letters in Roman script (as opposed to forms of script that was written in capital letters or “uncials”).

Since the librarian wants information that is accurate in students' papers, she most likely reminds students to choose credible or trustworthy sources.

We can infer that we need to pick an adjective for the blank that means something like "shortened," since the rest of the sentence informs us that this particular edition of the book is missing certain chapters which full-length versions of the work include. While both "truncated" and "abridged" mean "shortened," "truncated" specifically means "shortened by having cut off the top or the end," while "abridged" refers to written works and means "shortened without having lost the sense of the original." "Abridged" fits the context of the sentence better than "truncated," since the sentence is discussing a book and "abridged" specifically refers to written works, so "abridged" is the correct answer.

In opposition to being calm and understanding, Michael must have expected his father to be very angry about the accident. In that case, his father could have been said to be “livid,” meaning “extremely angry” or “furious.” The word “livid” has a strange history that cannot be traced briefly, but it is related the Latin for “blue or blue-gray” (a meaning retained in English as well). Although the relationship is not this simple, it can help you to remember this by thinking of the blue-red face of someone who is very angry.

The key word is “vague,” for the necessary word will be opposed to that. The teacher wishes the student to give a “non-vague” answer. To this end, “unambiguous” is the best choice, for this word means “not having more than one interpretation.” When something is “ambiguous,” it is not clear exactly what is implied by that thing. The word literally comes from Latin roots meaning “driving both directions or in both ways.” The “ambi-” prefix means “both” and is found in the English “ambidextrous,” which means that one can use both hands.

Since Jerome’s appearance was stern, it is best to call it “austere.” The word distantly comes from Greek roots meaning “severe.” When one experiences “austerities,” he or she experiences “severe” conditions in the sense of having little means with which to support himself or herself. The word “austere” often has this sense as well, being used to indicate that something is very plain.

The sentence calls for a word that describes a droning voice and means lacking emotion. “Monotonous” is correct because it means without intonation. “Dramatic,” “searing,” and “satiric” are all much more exciting qualities of voice, and “atoned” is the past tense of a verb meaning to make amends.

From the context of the sentence you know that the blank term must relate to how isolationist America was and how little concerned America was with foreign events. Histrionic means overdramatic; emboldened means given courage; courageous means brave; moderate means reasonable or middling. Only insular neatly refers to the isolationist character of American society. Insular means a limited and localized perspective.