We can infer that for the first blank, we're looking for a noun that describes something used to transport water across land. Either "aqueducts" (man-made, above-ground channels for transporting water) or "pipelines" could work. For the second blank, we can tell that we need a noun that means something like "achievement"; either "feat" (accomplishment) or "accomplishment" (something achieved) could work. Of the potentially correct answers we've identified, only "aqueducts" and "accomplishment" appear in a single answer choice, so "aqueducts . . . accomplishment" is the correct answer.

"Infidelity" means unfaithfulness, often to a sexual partner, while a "peccadillo" is a small sin or fault. Johnson does not seem to esteem fidelity very highly because he rates unfaithfulness to his spouse as only a minor fault.

The two words we are looking for should be synonymous with deceitful and charm, respectively. "Chicanery" most closely means trickery or deceitfulness, while a person who is charming is "flattering."

"Despot" means one who has total power and rules brutally, while "nonchalance" means a lack of concern or indifference. Understandably, a brutal ruler who killed without concern would incite his own downfall.

The correct answer refers to the depravity that the knight could commit ("turpitude") and still retain his position, something that earned the ire of his peers ("umbrage"). Incorrect answers either fail to identify the knight's actions as being emphatically negative ("righteousness" and "virtuousness") or that his peers' thoughts of him were not all contemptuous ("commiseration" and "satisfaction").

The sense desired by this sentence is that reality is more powerful and lively than that found in still life. To have "dynamism" means to have activity and vigor. It is derived from Greek roots meaning “power”, and we can see the same base in words like “dynamite” and “dynamic.”

To be in flux means to be flowing—something that would be true of a dynamic, changing reality. It is derived from Latin roots that give us other such words connoting “flowing”—such as “confluence,” “influx”, and “fluent.”

For the first blank, we need to pick out a noun that means something like "calmness," because calmness would be disrupted if "sharks began to swim" near where one was swimming. Either "tranquility" ("the quality or state of being tranquil; calm") or "peace" (" freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility") could be correct. For the second blank, we need to pick out a noun that describes a body of water that could be "connected . . . with the ocean." Either "cove" ("a small sheltered bay") or "bay" ("a broad inlet of the sea where the land curves inward") could be correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "tranquility" and "cove" appear in the same answer choice in the correct order, so the correct answer is "tranquility . . . cove."

The phrases “commenced,” “build up” and “complete the three-day bar examination” suggest that Harold began a systematic procedure to build up the stamina to finish a three-day exam. Only "regimen" (a systematic procedure) and "endurance" (a synonym for stamina) work for the blanks. 

"Disdain" is synonymous with extreme dislike due to feeling superior to something or someone else, and "restraint" means self-control or something that limits movement or options. Here, it is clear that if revenge is desired since the individual does not like the crook, and that if revenge is not taken, restraint must have been shown.

The key point to note is that the brush communicates the artistic skill that is not in the brush itself. It is “traversed” by a force greater than it could create on its own. (It would be rather boring on its own—though it might be quite well crafted); therefore, it is “traversed.”

Although the Latin root “-vers” often means something like to turn, there is also a Latin root, versari, which means to move about or dwell. The prefix “tra-“ is really an abbreviation of “trans-,” which means across (as in a word like “transatlantic” or “transfer”—the latter meaning to carry across); therefore, “traverse” means to move across—like the skill of the artist across the brush.

The word “utilization” means the use made of something and is related to a number of “use” words. In the earlier Latin as well as other English usages, the “t” often becomes an “s” because of the similarity of these sounds, depending on the context in given words.