Since the sentence directly mentions star charting, the best answer will be that which describes the data as being related to heavenly bodies or stars. Therefore, the two “astro-” options should stand out immediately. Here, you must be careful not to confuse the two words. Astrology is concerned not with the science of measuring (etc) stars but with the so-claimed “meaning” of stars in the sense of horoscopes and things of that sort. It is astronomy that studies the scientific laws of the stars. This is indicated by the “-nomy” at the end of the word, which is derived from Greek word for “law.” It is found in the word “autonomy,” literally meaning “having a self-given law.”

The key words to note are “musical” and “flowing.” The best description of the teacher’s voice will reflect these two parallel descriptions. Probably the most tempting trap answer is “fluent,” which means “flowing.” However, “lilting” better matches the two descriptions mentioned. A lilting sound is one that rises and falls in a pleasant manner. When applied to a voice, it means that it has such a gentle rising and falling. Although it does not directly mean “musical and flowing,” it does, by extension, imply a certain musicality and gentle flow to the voice. In any case, it is much better than “fluent,” which generally is used to describe one’s ability to speak well (often in another language) and only secondarily is used for the more general sense of “to flow;” thus, lilting fits more closely.

The key word here is “opposition.” Although the group was suppressed, we do not know anything about its legality. Therefore, the best option is “dissident,” which means “disagreeing” (with someone else). The word literally means “to sit apart from.” The “sitting” portion is reflected in “-sident” and “dis-” portion means “apart from” or “opposed to.”   Do not be fooled by “dissonant,” which means “a clashing sound.”

The key thing to note is that the sentence describes the dog’s ability to smell, not merely to breathe. Therefore, the options “pulmonary” (relating to the lungs), “inhalation,” and “breathing” are all inadequate. The word “olfactory” means “related to the sense of smell.” The “olfactory system” is comprised of the sense organs and nervous system components related to the sense of smell. It comes from the Latin for “to smell.”

The word rigorous can mean “thorough” but it can likewise mean “demanding.” The other options for this sentence to express difficulty in the course but likewise imply additional content like “tiring” or “being to much” (e.g. overwhelming). The word “rigorous” comes from the Latin for “stiffness” and here means “demanding” in the sense of being “stiff and unbending” in the pursuit of a goal.

The contrast here is between effect and cause, that is between things “coming after” and things “coming before” an event. Since our sentence does not speak of specific kinds of causes or even their regularity, the best adjective will be one that merely expresses the fact that causes “come before” a given event. The word “antecede” literally means “going before.” The prefix “ante” means “before” and is found in the English “antechamber,” meaning a small room that is “before” another room (and in which people are often first received as guests). Also, it is found in “antebellum” which literally means “before the war” and is often used to describe the southern United States before the American Civil War.

Since the sentence speaks neither of effeminacy nor of cowardliness, the best option is “maudlin.” The word means “sentimental” with the negative sense being “self-pitying” and perhaps induced by drunkenness. This negative implication suffices for this sentence, for it implies that the old man judged such displays in a negative light.

The only thing that is said about Anatol’s remark is that it concerns his perception of the proximity of his death. While this remark might seem startling or perhaps remarkable (for many people may not think of such things), the best description is “morbid.” A morbid person often focuses on unhappy subjects, often death. The word itself is related to Latin root words for disease, though we often associate the “morb-” prefix with another Latin root, namely “mort-” for death. Remember that “morb-” is directly concerned with disease.

The best option is that which indicates the beauty of the words spoken by the preacher. The word “mellifluous” means “beautiful and pleasing to hear.” The word literally means “flowing with honey,” so it at times can have the meaning of “sweet sounding.” The “mel-” prefix is derived from the Latin for honey and can be found in the rare English word “melliferous,” which means “producing honey.”

The key expression here is “one must choose sides for or against.” The contrast implied in the sentence is between one who does not take such sides and one who does do so. When someone does not have a preference for either side of a conflict or controversy, he or she is said to be “neutral.” (A neutral person need not be calm or tranquil, though often this can be the case.) The word comes from the Latin word describing a gender in the Latin language, namely the neuter gender. Many non-English modern European languages still have the masculine and feminine genders for their nouns. Languages like Latin and Greek also had another option, the neuter gender. Being neither masculine nor feminine, it was rather neutral on the matter of gender!