"Unprepossessing" and "grotesque" both mean ugly or hideous. "Agreeable" means pleasing or delightful. "Exquisite" means beautiful or excellent. "Covert" means clandestine or underhanded. "Covetous" means greedy or very desirous.

You might associate the word “binary” with the world of computers. Often, you will see things written in “binary code” like “101011011.” While this might seem to be a strange string of numbers, notice that the only digits in the “code” are “1” and “0.” There are only two choices. When someone is “bipolar,” he or she is said to have two personalities. Each of these are like different poles (like those found on a magnet) between which the person swings. Likewise, the word “combine,” means to bring two things together. The “two things" are expressed by the “-bi-” found in all of these words. A “binary choice” is one that has only two options. For this reason, the best option among the potential answers is “twofold.”

Do not be tempted to thinking “degrade” means the same thing as “downgrade.” Both words contain the “-grade” base, which means step or stage. Likewise, “de-” means down from. This might lead you to think that they both merely mean to force someone "down a step." Nevertheless, “degrading” actions are ones that are contemptuous or disrespectful. They are meant to humiliate those who receive them. For this reason, “humiliating” is the best answer among the others.

The word “concatenation” comes from the prefix “con-”, meaning “with” and a base that is derived from the Latin “catena,” meaning, “chain.” When one “concatenates” things together, he or she is said to “chain them together.” For this reason, a “concatenation” is a “series.” For instance, one can say that “abc” is a concatenation of the letters “a”, “b”, and “c.”

The word “gel” and “gelatin” both are derived from a similar base as “congeal.” They all share the general sense of “freezing” or (more broadly) “hardening” from a liquid state. When something “congeals” it “gels together.” (The “con-” prefix means “with,” as you likely know.) In general it means to “to solidify” or “to coagulate” (like blood that thickens and clots). The word “congeal” can be used to describe a group coming together as well, as in, “The parts of the project congealed into a working whole.”

"Presage" and "augur" both mean to predict or have a feeling. "Embroil" means to involve in a dispute or complicate. "Emerge" means to come out or arise. "Emulate" means to copy the actions of. "Refute" means to prove false or discredit.

"Indolent" originally meant lacking or avoiding pain (IN-negating) + (DOLENT- from a Latin word for pain), but it came more commonly to refer to a desire to avoid any kind of exertion. Make sure you don't confuse it with "insolent" (rude and disrespectful) or "indulgent" (lenient and permissive).

"Ensnare" means to capture or to trap. "Fulfill" means to satisfy or complete a task or goal. "Germinate" means to grow. "Obstruct" means to block or prevent something from getting through. "Baffle" means to confuse.

The word “edict” comes from the prefix “e-” meaning “out or out of” and “-dict,” which means “to say or speak.” The latter is found in many words like “diction,” “dictate,” “dictionary,” and “benediction” (as well as many, many others). “Edict” thus literally means “something spoken out.” The sense of this “out” is that the thing is proclaimed, particularly by one in authority. For this reason, the option “proclamation” is the best option among those provided.

The word “prescribe” distantly comes from the Latin meaning “to write out ahead of time.” (The “scribe” portion of the word comes from the Latin for “to write.”) We often use the word in medical contexts, when a doctor recommends (and authorizes) the usage of a given medicine. It is so used because of its general meaning of “recommend.” Do not confuse this with “proscribe,” which means “to forbid” (generally by law).