1.Correct Answer: C

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The second part of the sentence tells us that he did not want to admit something. Therefore, we can choose a word for the first blank that means hesitates or avoids: demurred, dissembled, or hesitated would fit. However, he wouldn’t mind admitting that he had been promoted or lauded (praised), and so we choose dismissed.

　　(demurred = hesitated or refused; dissembled = avoided telling the truth)

　　2.Correct Answer: A

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: ‘Well-loved’ tells us that the word we want is ‘loved’ or something similar. Lionized is suitable since it means ‘treated like a celebrity’.

　　(decried = criticized; abhorred = hated)

　　3.Correct Answer: E

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: Since the politicians ‘refused to come to order’, the session must have degenerated into disorder. Therefore, any of the words for the first blank except tranquility could be suitable. Next we look at what they were ‘hurling’ at each other. This would need to be something like insults or ‘invectives’, but we can rule out invectives since it is partnered by tranquility.

　　(mayhem =confusion and disorder = disarray =chaos = anarchy; tranquility = peace; banter = playful talk; pleasantries = jokes; invectives = insults; aphorisms = well-known sayings)

　　4.Correct Answer: B

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The sense of the sentence tells us that he would have been relieved to end the fighting and cancel his order to attack when he saw the white flag (signal to surrender).

　　Therefore, we choose to say that he countermanded his order, and brought an end to the fighting.

　　(reiterated = repeated; countermanded = cancelled; commandeered = took possession of; truce = peace agreement; hiatus = interruption)

　　5.Correct Answer: A

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: She threw out a valuable statue just because it belonged to her ex-husband. Therefore, she must have been acting out of spite or ill will. Hence we choose pique which means ‘resentment’. [Note that ‘pique’ used as a verb means to stimulate curiosity.]

　　(contrition = regret or sorrow; pedantry = insistence on narrow points of learning; prudence = caution)

　　6.Correct Answer: B

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The words ‘no longer’ indicate a change of state. The original layout would therefore be no longer visible or apparent. If the layout is no longer apparent, the buildings must have been changed (modified).

　　(decimated = destroyed; enshrouded = covered; salvaged = rescued)

　　7.Correct Answer: E

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The two halves of the sentence indicate that there is a difference between the treatment of male and female sculptors. If sculpture has been considered the prerogative of men, then it fits that women sculptors would have met with opposition. Note that although ‘ridicule’ might have suited the second blank, its partner ‘domicile’ means ‘home’ and is unsuitable.

　　(domain = territory = realm; approbation = approval; condolence = expression of sorrow; prerogative = special right, privilege)

　　8.Correct Answer: A

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: Ask yourself what kind of action would be inadvisable if we have not accumulated expertise. Since precipitate means hurried or rash, it seems the best choice. Also without expertise only a cautious or wary approach would be suitable.

　　(vacillating = wavering, hesitating; circuitous = indirect; ponderous = slow and heavy)

　　9.Correct Answer: D

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The best clue is that we are dealing with ‘conditions on earth before life evolved’. Therefore, the biologists might have been attempting to ‘replicate’, ‘mimic’ or simulate these conditions to find out how biological molecules evolved. Because we are considering evolution, the best word for the second blank would be ‘evolution’ or origin. We choose the latter because it is paired with one of our choices for the first blank.

　　(mimic = copy = replicate = simulate; ameliorate = make better)

　　10.Correct Answer: B

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: If the market research firm has an excellent reputation, Harding would be unable to reject the findings even if they were unexpected. Hence we choose discount (ignore), and impeccable (faultless).

　　(peerless = without equal; mediocre = average; unenviable = not to be envied)

　　11.Correct Answer: C

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: A set of words linked with ‘and’ usually indicates things of similar weight. To go with ‘absurd’ and ‘unnatural’ we can choose incompatible with common sense.

　　(consanguineous = related by blood; discernible = visible; decipherable = can be decoded; incompatible = not matching)

　　12.Correct Answer: C

　　Explanation:

　　Clue: The key words are ‘fooled’ and ‘belies’. Belies means contradicts, and hence her superficial ‘simplicity’ or naiveté belies her worldliness. If she is only superficially simple, her manner is a pretence of simplicity, and hence we should not be fooled by her unsophisticated manner.

　　(ingenuous = unsophisticated = simple and naive; proficiency = expertise; gregarious = sociable; off-hand = casual)