Since the substance was able to deflect bullets, it was not able to be penetrated by them; therefore, the best option for this sentence would be “impenetrable.” The only other close option would be “insuperable,” meaning unable to be overcome; however, the sense implied by the sentence is clearly that the barrier does not leave bullets through its surface.

The key thing to note here is that although the congress members do argue over the specifics of such money expenditures, they do agree that the money should be spent. An “outlay” is an amount of money spent for any given thing, as though it is the amount that is “laid out.” This best fits the needs of this sentence in comparison with all of the other “discussion” related words that might be tempting.

The implication of the sentence is that nobody doubted René’s scholarly abilities. While a number of the options are generally acceptable, only “erudition” expresses the sense of having scholarly or intellectual achievements. The word literally is derived from the prefix “e-,” here meaning “away from” (in the sense of “not being”), applied to the base for “rude,” here in the sense of “uneducated” or “lacking culture.”

We can tell from the context of the sentence that we need to pick out a word with a positive connotation that means something like "aid." Neither "antipathy" or "anger" can be the correct answer because both of those words have negative connotations. "Succor," however, is a noun that means "assistance and support in times of hardship and distress." Because "succor" is the word that best fits the context of the sentence, "succor" is the correct answer.

Since Nathanael’s reason for objecting to the war are based upon his thought out opinions, it is not fair to say that they derive from cowardice, as is implied by a number of the options. Instead, the best thing to say in this sentence is that he desires peace. When someone is a “pacifist,” he or she believes that war or violence are not able to be legitimated. The word is derived from the Latin for peace and is found in English words like “pacify,” “pacific,” and “appease.”

"Mettle" is correct because it means strength of spirit or disposition. If Tommy can handle the spiciest hot sauce, he must be strong.

The key word here is “isolated.” Nothing else in the sentence gives us a particular indication of the old man’s character or the ends to which he wishes to devote his reading, writing, and reflection. The word “hermit,” though often having religious overtones, can mean merely “living a solitary life.”

"Plumage" works the best here since it means "feathers of a bird," and a peacock is a bird that would have ornate feathers.

In this sentence the word “between” provides a clue to the blank word. You know that it must be describing some form of evaluation of the differences between pre-Industrial and modern European society. Prediction, rehearsal (practice), and candor (honesty and directness of character) all fail to fit comfortably within the sentence. Regression, which means to return to a less developed situation,could potentially fit if there were some other reference to a movement backwards. As there is not, the correct answer is comparison, which means the process of examining the differences or similarities in two or more things.

The context of the sentence tells us that the word should involve agreement, as all of the coworkers concur that the sandwich shop is the best restaurant at which to eat lunch. "Consensus" means an agreement reached by a group, so "consensus" is the correct answer because it best fits the sentence's context.