We can infer from the sentence's context that we need to pick out a word for the first blank that means something like "made" or "encouraged" since we know that Harriet's apprehension likely made her do something. Either "convinced" ("persuaded someone to do something") or "compelled" ("forced or obliged someone to do something") could be correct. For the second blank, we need to pick out a word that means something like "not participate in" or "stop," given that Harriet saw other kids getting hurt in the snowball fight and that she was apprehensive about it. Potentially correct answer choices include "avoid," "stop," and "forgo" ("refrain from"). Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "compelled" and "forgo" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "compelled . . . forgo."

The word “arbitrator” means a person who mediates between two parties to settle a dispute. So, the arbitrator would hope to reconcile the disputing parties. We can eliminate "castigate . . . exterminate" because "castigate" means criticize or reprimand severely. The second blank requires a word that means take away; therefore, "reconcile . . . eliminate" is the right answer.

In an old usage, “meet” meant “to be proper or just.” When one “metes” a sentence, he or she issues a judgment. The sentence implies that the judge does not like giving (meting) out such sentences because it is difficult see and interpret all of the details in the midst of life’s ambiguities. To attempt to see and discern such details in an exact manner would be to “ascertain” them. The word is derived from the Latin word for “sure or settled” and is related to English words for “surety” such as “certificate” and “certitude.”

For the first blank, we need to pick out a word that means something like get or buy. Either "obtain" (acquire) or "afford" (have enough money to be able to buy) could be correct. For the second blank, we need to pick out a verb that means something like last or be used. Either "serve" (be adequate) or "suffice" (be enough) could be potentially correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "obtain" and "suffice" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "obtain . . . suffice."

The general idea of the sentence is that the we could gain much wisdom today by paying attention to the questions asked by the people of the Middle Ages. First, we can say that "critics" is too narrow of a word, as is the paring "philosophical . . . professors." Neither of these are justified by the sentence. When something has relevance today, it can be said to be "contemporary." Something is "contemporary" when it exists (or has implications for) a shared time-frame. It literally is derived from parts meaning "together-time" ("con" + "temporary"). The pair "contemporary . . . generations" well expresses the meaning of the sentence. The thoughts of the people of the Middle Ages have relevance today. They represent a source of wisdom to be taken from previous generations of human thinkers.

Something that is “higher level” in a given structure could be called the “macrostructure.” The prefix “macro” means larger or longer and is used in words like “macroeconomics” and “macrophage.” If explanations of such structures “must” include that of the simpler ones, the former are directly bound to the latter. If two things are “inextricable,” they cannot be separated from each other. To extricate something is to remove it from things constraining and bound to it.

That a school subject is popular even though it has another characteristic tells us that characteristic should be negative. "Burdensome" and "strenuous" would both work. This makes the options for the second blank "intricacies" and "prowess." "Intricacies" makes more sense in the context of this sentence, because it indicates complexity, where "prowess" indicates skill.

Since Katherine’s work is called impressive, it is likely the case that one could say that she was very careful regarding every detail of the work; therefore, the best option would be to say that she was “assiduous,” meaning that she cared about every detail of the project. Because of this, the option “aspect” fits well with the blank found in the main clause, for such “assiduous care” would imply that no single aspect of the overall project would show any shortfall in quality.

For the first blank, we can infer that whatever is scattered across the lawn "spilled from the back of an overly-full garbage truck" and is "disgusting." Knowing that, we can infer that we need to pick out an answer choice that means "trash" or "waste," so either "debris" ("dirt or refuse") or "refuse" ("matter thrown away or rejected as worthless; trash") could be correct. For the second blank, we know that the cottage has "attractive old brick walls, [a] garden of roses, and smoke coming out of its chimney," so we can infer that either "quaint" ("attractively unusual or old-fashioned") or "charming" ("pleasant or attractive") could potentially be correct. Of the words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "refuse" and "quaint" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "refuse . . . quaint."

We know that the food ran out very quickly at the party, so there mustn't have been very much of it. Knowing this, we should pick an adjective for the first blank that is a synonym of little. Both "meager" and "minuscule" could work, leaving us to decide between "dearth" and "malady" for the second blank. For the second blank, we're looking for a noun that conveys the lack of available snacks after the food ran out. Since "dearth" means lack or shortage and "malady" means disease or ailment, "dearth" is the better choice, and the answer is "meager . . . dearth."