The town was able to build itself back up after bad events, which shows its "resilience."

We know that the electrician was pretty impudent by demanding payment for services that caused a fire in his client's home, so we need to pick out an answer choice that is a noun and means something like "impudence." Only three of the possible answer choices are nouns—"gall," "honesty," and "concession." "Honesty" doesn't fit the context of the sentence, and neither does "concession," which means "a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands; a thing conceded." "Gall," however, means "bold, impudent behavior" when used as a noun, and fits the context of the sentence, so "gall" is the correct answer.

Focus on the context of the sentence. To complete the sentence, we need to describe the effect of the events taking place. The effect of the sunlight striking the windshield is a "glare," or a temporary reflection of a bright light, so "glare" is the correct answer.

For this question, you need to be very attentive to small details. The preposition "from" indicates a movement away from its object, namely the great accomplishments of the middle ages. To move away from greatness is to move into mediocrity or, at least, a less developed state of affairs. Therefore, the historians in question believe that modernity is a "regression." The word "progress" means the action of moving forward or toward a goal or destination. The "-gress" portion of the word means to move. A "regression" is a moving backward. The prefix "re-" means (among many other possible things) backward or away from.

The sentence tells us that many of the fantasy stories’ plots involve dragons and knights fighting, so we can infer that we need to pick out a noun that means something like “enemies” or “opponents.” While “proponents” might look like a potentially correct answer because it looks and sounds similar to “opponents,” “proponents” is a noun that means “people who advocate something,” so “proponents” would not make sense in the sentence and cannot be the correct answer. “Adversaries,” however, is a noun that means “opponents,” and because “adversaries” best fits the context of the sentence, “adversaries” is the correct answer.

We can infer that we need to pick out a noun that means something like “story” or “article,” because it is something that the magazine the sentence describes “published.” While both “exposé” and “essay” might look like potentially correct answers, “essay” is a noun that means “a short piece of writing,” while “exposé” is a noun that means “a report of the facts about something.” Because the noun in question is described as “shocking” in the sentence, “exposé” is the better choice for the blank and the correct answer.

We can tell from the context of the sentence that the word in the blank needs to mean "claiming someone else's words as being your own work." While "citation" has to do with academics and writing, "citation" means "a quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work," and cannot be the correct answer because citations don't get people in trouble - they are how writers are supposed to quote each other in formal academic papers without stealing each other's work. "Plagiarism," however, means "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own," and because it best fits the context of the sentence, "plagiarism" is the correct answer.

Given that this man held a high opinion of himself and thought less of those around him, it makes most sense to select "contempt" as the correct answer, as "contempt" means disdain or disregard. "Benevolence," which means kindness or generosity, makes little sense in this context, along with "insouciance," which means unconcern. "Frustration" and "vitriol," which means harsh commentary, are only indirectly related.

Here, the idea is that Harold claims something, while the opposite is true. Therefore, we would say that his claim has no merit, truth, or basis, so we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like merit. "Acclaim" might initially appear to be the correct answer because "acclaim" means praise or acclamation and we can infer from the sentence tells us that Harold's novel had no acclaim, the sentence's main concern is Harold's claims about his novel, not the novel itself. The best answer choice for the blank is "foundation," which means the basis or groundwork of something. As for the other answer choices, "publicity" means exposure in the media, "argument" means a dispute, and "novelty" means newness or originality.

We know that the gorge was created from the forces of water and rain, so we need to pick out a noun that refers to these forces. "Precipitation" and "condensation" may each look like a potentially correct answer, as "precipitation" means "rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground," and "condensation" means "water that collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it." However, "erosion" is the best possible answer choice because erosion specifically means "the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents," where "erode" refers to the process by which wind, water, or other natural agents "gradually wear away soil, rock, or land." Because "erosion" is best suited to the specific context of the sentence, "erosion" is the correct answer.