We can infer that the sentence's subject walks around both aimlessly (because he does not "[walk] immediately to a destination") and clumsily (because he "often trip[s] over his own shoelaces or run[s] into stationary objects on the way"). So, we need to pick out a verb for the blank that means something like "walk aimlessly and clumsily." "Bumbling," a verb that can mean moving or speaking in a clumsy way, is the best answer because it best fits the context of the sentence.

The key phrase in this sentence is “eliminating extraneous concerns.” When someone “cuts out” extra content, he or she helps to show the exact boundaries of a problem or question. The word “delimit” means to set the limits or boundaries of. Here, such delimitation is being done by selecting the specific questions to be asked, thus setting the appropriate limits for research into the problem.

From the context of the sentence, we can tell that letting the cat into the room with the angry dogs worsened the situation, so we need to choose a verb that means something like worsen. "Exacerbated" means just that, so it is the correct answer.

We know that Connie was able to figure out how the magician's tricks worked without him explaining them to her, so we're looking for a verb that is a synonym for "deduce." Because "infer" means deduce something without it being explicitly stated, it is the correct answer.

Since the criminal got his sentence reduced "from a year to six months in jail," we know that we're looking for a verb that means something like reduce. Because of this, "mitigate," which means lessen the severity of, is the best answer choice. (While "belittle" sounds like a likely answer, it doesn't actually mean to make smaller. Instead, it means cause someone to feel or appear unimportant or cause something to appear unimportant.)

Since Thomas cannot totally remove the injustice, he at least wishes to improve the situation and make it less burdensome for some people at least. When one “alleviates” something, he or she makes it less “heavy” or less severe. Often, we think of “alleviating suffering,” though the term can be used much more generally. The term literally means “[moving] toward a lighter state.” The “-lev-” portion comes from Latin roots meaning light (in weight) and can be found in English words like “levity” and “levitate.”

The key thing to note in this opposition is that Gina “lags” in mathematics and science, meaning that she “falls behind” the others. Therefore, the word that we need must capture the sense of “going or passing ahead of” the others (in music). The word “surpass” literally means to pass over. The prefix “sur-” means over or on top of, as is found in the English “surface,” which literally means the top face.

The key expression in this sentence is “did not suppress it completely.” Since the engine did not lose its operational capacity entirely, the best option will be one that expresses a “partial loss.” When something is “impaired,” it is made to be in a diminished state (though not totally extinguished).

The key phrases for this sentence is “political secrets.” The informant is not merely communicating to his listener. Even worse than that, he is giving out things that should be secret. Such an act is one of “divulging.” The word comes from the Latin root for “vulgar,” a word that originally meant the common people. When someone divulges something, he or she makes it known “to the masses” or “commonly” (as opposed to keeping it secret as was the case before the divulging).

We can infer from the sentence's context that we need to pick out a verb that describes something moving "back and forth in graceful waves." While "jolting" and "stumbling" might each refer to movement, the movements they describe are too jarring to be called "graceful waves." (Plus, a snake can't really "stumble" because snakes don't have legs.) "Undulating," however, is a verb that means "moving with a smooth wavelike motion," and because it best fits the context of the sentence, it is the correct answer.