"Aberration" means an oddity or abnormality. "Tangent" means a digression or an aside. "Venality" means something easily bribed or manipulated. "Onus" means a responsibility or duty. "Invocation" means conjuration or enchantment.

"Iconoclast" means someone who questions the traditional or conservative way of doing things. "Mendicant" means a beggar or vagrant. "Plethora" means an excess or overabundance. "Implication" means an association or suggestion. "Tyro" means a beginner or novice.

This question asks for a word that means that Julie had the ability to do well. The word closest in meaning to ability is competence. 

Lady Macbeth delivers a monologue or a long speech given by one person that allows the character to express hidden thoughts and emotions.  She indeed expresses her innermost thoughts and the fact that she is distraught due to the recent deaths of Lady Macduff and Banquo. 

Since the narrator's father can joke about anything, we should expect that he was always ready with a joke or a wisecrack. "Cackle" is close to the word we're looking for; it means a shrill laugh. However, this would suggest that the narrator's father laughs at other people's jokes, but does not make them himself, and we are specificaly told that "[he] could make a joke out of anything." "Story" doesn't fit, either, because while stories can be funny, they aren't necessarily funny. "Calumny" means a false and injurious remark about someone—not very funny! "Fenestration" refers to the design of windows—that has nothing to do with making jokes! Our best choice is "quip," which means a quick, witty remark.

We can infer that the band didn't sound good initially, so we're looking for a noun that refers to sound, specifically sound that is unpleasant and loud. While "harmony" refers to sound, it refers to sounds that pleasantly agree with each other, so it's not the word we're looking for. Similarly, "melody" refers to sound, but since it refers to a sequence of pleasant musical notes, it's not the correct answer either. "Cacophony," on the other hand, refers to sound, and means a discordant combination of sounds, and is the best answer choice. (The root "phon" tells us that a word has something to do with sound—think "telephone," "phonics," or "symphony.")

Although the answer word is a very rare English word, you can still eliminate the other answer choices to arrive at it. Notice that all of the other options deal with “distance” in general. In the sentence, the space between the houses is described as being “small.” Since all of these other terms are rather generic, they are likely incorrect. The word “propinquity” is derived from the Latin for close and therefore means closeness or proximity.

Since the group of men were motivated to their action by what they took to be the inadequacies of the local police coverage, it could be said that they have “taken the law into their hands.” When a group of citizens deputes itself to act in the capacity of the legal authorities (but without any official granting of that capacity), that group is called a “vigilante” group, and its members "vigilantes." The word is related to the word “vigilant,” which means watching attentively for dangers, but it adds the negative sense of exercising such attention without legal mandate.

The sentence does not say anything about changes in Theodore’s diet. We do not know if his protein intake was reduced or if it always was this low. The only thing that is known is that he was always sick because of insufficient nourishment; therefore, the best word is “paucity,” which means scarce amounts. It is derived from the Latin for few, which can be found in the related Spanish expression “un poco,” meaning a little.

Because we know that the CEO hired his brother for an important position without making him first interview at the company, we can infer that we need to pick out a noun that means the giving of preferential treatment. While "favoritism" may sound like it could be the correct answer because the CEO is certainly showing favoritism by hiring his brother, "nepotism" is an even better answer for the sentence's context, as it means using one's position of power to give a friend or relative a job. So, while both "favoritism" and "nepotism" make sense in the blank, "nepotism" is the correct answer because it is more precisely suited to the sentence's context.