The first blank is the easiest to fill in because it is something difficult that you will have to overcome. Adversity and trouble could both fit here, so we look at the second blank, which requires a positive quality that will help you though tough times. Vulnerability does not fit here, so "adversity . . . composure" is the correct answer. 

The first blank is best known by the implied contrast with "alone." In contrast to being alone, one can be gathered in a group. A "multitude" is a large number of people or things together. It is clearly related to "multiply" and "multiple." All of these words come from the Latin meaning "many." The answer for the second blank is best figured out by looking to the subordinate clause beginning "with its many." This clause describes global politics as having many actors (that is, people doing things) and numerous concerns. The implication is that it is "complex."

Conspiracy theorists generally question the truth behind certain events. So in this case, they would think that the moon landing was fake. We can easily fill in the second blank first by picking a word that would mean the landing was fake. This could be trick or hoax. Looking at the first blank, we can say that they questioned the truth or possibility of the moon landing, and the word that fits here would be plausibility. 

Your clue words here are "unfortunately" and "external." "External" means located or seen on the outside or surface of something. You are looking for two synonyms which primarily have to do with externality. So, the answer choice that makes the most sense in the sentence's context is "appearances . . . features." The other words all deal with more internal traits.

Although it is difficult to find the best meaning for this sentence, it is relatively easy to ascertain the “least bad” one. Since nothing is said about the specific places in which people could not smoke, the safest answer will be the one that merely implies that one cannot smoke at all within the town (as is stated in the independent clause starting with “nobody”). The word “limits” functions best here, merely indicating that one cannot smoke within the city’s borders. The word “prohibition” does not merely mean the banning of alcohol, as many might think. It first means “to forbid something.” It is from this first meaning that the later laws were named. It is clearly related to “prohibit” but likewise has related English words like “rehabilitate” and “inhibition.”

The key words here are “wanted to curry favor with the crowd.” A “demagogue” is someone who argues to a crowd by appealing to their wishes and prejudices and not to logic. This negative sense is clearly communicated by the key expression. The word is derived from Greek roots meaning to lead the people. The “dem-” portion means people (taken as a whole, as the “crowds,” so to speak) and is found in English in words like “democracy.” The “-agogue” portion is found in many words that denote action. (The “g” sound often can harden into a “c,” and the Latinization of the Greek root here ultimately will give us many words that have not merely the “c” but a “-ct-” and hence “-act-”).

Rhetoric is the art of being convincing in speech or writing. While we often give it a negative connotation, it is really a neutral term. Here, it works well because of the good match made by “demagogue” in the second half of the sentence. 

All that we know is that someone is asking John things. No other details are given regarding those speaking to him; therefore, all we can say is that they are “interrogators”—people asking questions.

The word comes from Latin roots that ultimately mean to ask (or, more directly, to ask questions between persons—the “inter-” alters the meaning). The “-rog-“ portion comes from “rogare,” meaning to ask. There are many related words like “derogatory,” “rogation,” and “abrogate.”

The word “obfuscation” comes from the Latin “fuscus,” meaning “dark.”  Related words are rather obscure – “fuscine” and “fuscous.”  However, one can see how “obfuscation” (rendering something unclear or obscure) is related to being dark.

Do not assume any specificity unless you need to do so. For this question, a number of the options for the first blank specify more than you might be able to imply from the few details given in the sentence (e.g. “bombings”, “shelling,” and “explosions”). The case of “ravage” captures the general sense of destruction that would appropriately pair with the claim that Sebastian had an increased “fortitude” for dealing with hardships. The latter term is derived from the Latin for strong and is related to words like “fortify,” “force,” and “forte.”

Here, the contrast is between the production of something related to being male and some potential female characteristics. The word “androgen” means “male hormone.” The first portion, “andro-” is related to the English “polyandry,” meaning “having many husbands” and is also related more generally to words having “anthro-” in them, such as “anthropology” and “misanthrope.” Note, that these latter terms do not necessarily imply being male. The “-gen” portion means “producing” as in words like “genesis” and “genetic.”

From the use of the words “infamous” and “could not bear” you know that the blanks being described are probably negative. You also know that the blanks must be similar or identical in meaning because there is no clause or conjunction indicating a change in meaning. The correct answer is therefore arrogance and smugness; this is the only answer choice in which the meanings of the two answers are similar. Delegation means to allocate tasks; mollycoddling means to pamper and spoil someone; apathy means not caring; gregariousness refers to sociability; degradation describes the squalor of something.