The sentence implies that Ashley is reading the outward signs of people’s behavior in order to reach some conclusion about their inner disposition. When someone “infers” something, he or she uses indirect evidence to come to a conclusion. Similar to how the word “transfer” literally means “to carry across,” the word “infer” means “to carry into.” (The “-fer-” portion of the word here means “to bring or carry,” from the Latin “ferre.”) An inference “carries” someone into the heart of a matter.

Although the word “navigate” often applies to one traveling on a ship, it can be extended to apply to any case of planning the route that one must take. Given that the sentence speaks of Andrew’s great knowledge of the confusing streets, the best option will be “navigate,” which indicates that he knew how to find is way around the town. The word “navigate” does come from roots for “ship,” found in “navy” and “naval.”

The general implication of the sentence is that Eric is planning to sell these items during the summer. The key qualifying word is “cheap,” which helps to eliminate the tempting answer “retailing.” When someone “peddles” something, he or she not only is said to sell it but likewise is said to be selling something that is cheap, often doing so by traveling from place to place.

We can infer that we need to pick out a word that means something like "place side-by-side" and has something to do with creating contrast. "Separating" cannot be the correct answer because the sentence refers to "the shapes' side-by-side placement." However, "juxtaposing" is a verb that means "place or deal with close together for contrasting effect," so it is the correct answer because it best fits the sentence's context.

The best option here is “rouse,” for it has the direct meaning of “waking from sleep.” While the other options might apply to a degree (except perhaps berate, which is too strong), none of them apply quite as directly as does “rouse.”

Since tea parties and graduation ceremonies are said to have planned actions, one could say that they are “choreographed.” When something is choreographed, it is given a planned set of steps that are to be performed or executed. The word comes from the combination of the Greek words for “dance” and “to write,” thus having the sense of “writing down (the steps) of a dance.”

Since Luca is said to train himself in the virtue of patience, it can be inferred that he was not born with such a disposition; therefore, the best option would be “disposed,” which means “inclined toward something.” When we say that someone has a “cheerful disposition,” he or she is thus said to show an inclination to a cheerful attitude.

The key descriptive clue is found in the expression “as though he were struck by the blade of a guillotine.” A guillotine is the device (often associated in the popular imagination with post-Revolution France) used to cut off the heads of criminals. Therefore, the best answer is “decapitating,” which means “taking off the head.” The “de-” prefix means “down from” or “away from.” The “-capit-” portion comes from the Latin (and Greek) for “head,” which is found in words like “capital” (head city of a nation) and “per capita” (literally meaning “per head” or “as applies, perhaps on average, to each person in a group”).

The sentence implies that the theme was repeated multiple times. Although one might think that “resume” is acceptable, one cannot say that the theme “stopped” and then was “started again.” Likewise, “recited” really has more to do with repeating memorized words than anything with music. The word “recapitulation” can be used in music to refer to a section in which various themes are repeated. Here, the sentence expresses that the theme was repeated or “recapitulated.” The word literally means bringing the heading (i.e. theme) back. The “heading” portion comes from the Latin for head, which is found in words like “capital” (head city of a nation) and “per capita” (literally meaning “per head” or “as applies, perhaps on average, to each person in a group”).

Since the sentence is concerned with a ceremony on behalf of the ship, the verb that is needed will best describe the action of a ceremony that makes something usable for official service. Although we might often think of “christen” in a religious sense, it more generally means to dedicate something (for some end or set of ends) in an official, public, and ceremonial manner.