Since the authors fear retribution, it is quite likely that they are doing something that is contrary to the wishes of the government; therefore, they could be called “seditious,” which means to work to encourage rebellious activity against authorities. If such persons fear retribution, it makes sense that they would write in a secretive manner. To write “pseudonymously” is to do so under a false (pseudo) name. Although it takes a bit of thinking the “-nym-” can be seen in its relationship to “name.” The prefix “pseudo-” means either “false” or (less strongly) “resembling.” 

The implication of the sentence is that John remained greedy after the lottery, feeling the need to accumulate money, although he did not need to do so. Such a person is called “rapacious,” a word related to the English word “rapt,” which means “having one’s attention utterly taken. The sense of “taken” (or, more distantly, “grabbing”) comes from the Latin base shared between “rapt” and “rapacious.” Someone who is rapacious is one who is constantly “grabbing” after more money or physical goods. A lavish lifestyle is one that is very luxurious. It is derived from the Latin word that gives us “lavatory,” originally meaning “wash room.” Someone who lives a lavish lifestyle is—so to speak—showered with goods.

It can be assumed that the class being discussed in the sentence involves a lot of work based on the start of the sentence, so "demanding" and "rigorous" are the options which make the most sense as choices for the first blank. "Beneficial" means easy and "stringent" means strict, though, so "rigorous . . . stringent" is the correct answer.

"Diminutive" means small in physical stature, while "formidable" means daunting and menacing. Were a small fighter to be a fear-inspiring challenge for a much larger opponent, it would be surprising.

"Incurred" means receive something bad, like a penalty, while "expedient" means benefitting oneself but done out of self-interest. The president brought upon himself the media's criticism for having supported popular legislation in the service of himself.

"Unpredictable" means difficult to foretell or foresee, while "frenetic" means hectic or frantic. It is very reasonable to conclude that a young nephew running at a hectic pace would have a bedtime which is difficult to anticipate, dependent upon his pace subsiding.

The second part of the sentence describes two characteristics of a person. “ready to take risks” describes a word meaning “without fear,” while “naturally prepared” describes a word meaning instinctual. Intrepid . . . intuitive fit these descriptions.

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.