The key word is rather inconspicuous: “original.” This helps to give a sense to what precedes the “passage of time.” The “inception” of something is its beginning, and it is related to many “-cep-” and “-cap-” words like “conception,” “reception,” and “exception.” If something is “ossified” it has become hard and inflexible. The meaning is derived from the Latin for bone.

With the exception of “economics,” all of the other options for the first word are some how involved with the pricing of goods. The implication of the first sentence is that the laws of supply and demand, while important, are not ultimate. Instead, there is something closer to the reality of pricing. 

The word “radically” might surprise you at first. Consider the following: “That decision from the legislature radically changed the nature of the country’s notion of self-government.” Here, “radically” describes a significant change. The word originally comes from the Latin for “root,” reflected in words like “radish” as well as “eradicate” (to take up from its very roots); therefore, to say that something is “radically founded” on something else is to say that it “has its roots” therein—that is, it is closer and more fundamentally related to that.

So long as you know that “egalitarian” views are those that lead one to judge that all people are equal, you will have an easy time answering this question. Note that the “eg” and the “eq” sounds are actually very close, and that is why this shift occurs in the common base. The second word, “irreducibility” merely means that some given things cannot be explained in terms of another. The “i(r)-” prefix merely indicates a negation of the remaining “reducibility.”

The easiest way to choose the correct answer to this question is to note the positive implications in both sentences (“quickly” and “impressive”); therefore, the two most tempting options for the first blank are “deftly” and “impressively;” however, “transmission” in the latter paring does not make much sense, whereas “dexterity” does. If someone does something “deftly,” they do it with both speed and skill. The word “dexterity” comes remotely from the Latin for “skill” (dexteritas), which itself is based on the word “dexter,” meaning right. Many times, such approving meanings are attached to those who are right-handed, while left-handed persons fare much worse in our etymologies. For instance, consider the Latin word for “left,” which has relations to its obvious English cognate, “sinister.”

Although a number of these options seem acceptable at first sight, the word that matches most closely to the first space is “resonant” because the participial clause speaks of how the acoustics of the space “echoed” the sounds.  To be “resonant” is to “re + sound” in the sense of making sounds reverberate in an acceptable manner.  Likewise, the word “tapestry” well matches the image of “interweaving” used regarding the sounds.

Although we often use the term “temperance” to indicate that someone does not drink alcoholic beverages, it more generally means that one is very moderate in his or her food intake.  We can see that such is the case in this sentence by considering the key phrase “he age very moderately” in the second sentence.  Likewise, the second word should indicate that the meal is not moderate.  Such a meal could be called “lavish,” a word proximately derived from the word meaning “to rain,” though more distantly from words meaning “to wash.”  The sense of “lavish” is that something is “raining” an abundance of something.  Insofar as it is distantly derived to the Latin for “to wash,” related English words would be “lotion,” “lavatory,” and “laver.” 

It is necessary to pay careful attention to both words in this sentence, as there are several tempting options. Based merely on the first blank, it would seem that “erratic,” “variable,” and “mercurial” are all options; however, the second sentence makes a contrast specifically to “fabulously wealthy.” 

The word “pauper” fits best in this regard. It is related to words like “poverty,” coming from a related Latin base. The word “erratic” is related to other words like “error” or “errant,” words derived from a Latin base meaning to go astray or mistake. “Erratic” comes more from the go astray meaning (in the sense of wandering). 

"Provocation" means something that incites, while "irascible" means easily angered. A little brother who is quick to anger would certainly require little incitement to start screaming for his mother.

"Propensity" means inclination, while "grandiose" means characterized by greatness of scope or intent. A man who frequently makes statements like having invented letters of the alphabet would certainly have an inclination for statements of remarkable scope.

The two blank words should demonstrate opposing feelings concerning the upcoming test.  They should convey that Aaron at first felt unsure that he would do well at first and then believed in his abilities more after he prepared. The only choice that shows this is "misgivings . . . confident."