The key here is that Sylvia covered her remarks up. "Euphemisms" are indirect expressions that avoid what would be potentially offensive words. The word comes from two Greek bases. The prefix “eu-” means good and is seen in English words like “eulogy” (good speech, a speech that presents someone else well). The second half comes from “pheme,” meaning to speak, and is seen in English words like “blaspheme” or “blasphemy.”

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."

Since the assets were free from interference, they were isolated. The word “insulated” does not merely indicate the process of installing material to prevent energy from being transferred from one area to another. It also can indicate any such isolation of forces. The word is derived from the Latin word “insula,” which means “island.” The English word, “insular,” is similarly derived.

The word “parity”, indicating a state of equality, is derived from the Latin “pars,” meaning equal. The same root is reflected in English words like “disparity,” “pair,” and even “subpar.”

We can infer from the sentence's context that we need to pick out a word for the first blank that means something like "laziness" or "tiredness" since we know that the cat didn't get off the couch all day. Either "lassitude" ("a state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy") or "laziness" could be potentially correct answer choices. For the second blank, we need to pick out a word that means something like "not moving"; either "stationary" ("not moving or not intended to be moved") or "inert" ("very slow to move or act : sluggish") could be correct. Of the possible words that we've identified as potentially correct for each blank, only "lassitude" and "inert" appear in the same answer choice, so the correct answer is "lassitude . . . inert."

The options can be narrowed down significantly simply by looking at which one of the options for the first blank can be followed by the preposition "for." That brings us down to "proclivity," meaning tendency and "penchant," meaning liking. "Paramount" works better in the second blank, however, because it means of utmost importance. "Trivial" means the opposite, and we would hope that the police find it important to find a violent criminal.

A change in political structures does not necessarily indicate a mere change in "juries," "regulation," or "regalia." These options are far too specific in themselves. Likewise, the alterations are very regular in their occurrence, happening “every nineteen years.” Such the best option for the adjective for “alterations” thus should express the regularity of such alterations. “Cyclical” and “regular” do this well. However, “legislation” is too specific as well. Remember, it is the “entire” political structure that is changed. Cyclical means happening in a cycle, that is, as though it were happening in a circular manner. This and “authority” fit the sentence very well.

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."

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.

Although we often use the term “temperance” to indicate that someone does not drink alcoholic beverages, it more generally means that one is very moderate in his or her food intake. We can see that such is the case in this sentence by considering the key phrase “he age very moderately” in the second sentence. Likewise, the second word should indicate that the meal is not moderate. Such a meal could be called “lavish,” a word proximately derived from the word meaning “to rain,” though more distantly from words meaning “to wash.” The sense of “lavish” is that something is “raining” an abundance of something. Insofar as it is distantly derived to the Latin for “to wash,” related English words would be “lotion,” “lavatory,” and “laver.”

Platitudes are expressions that have been so overused that they really have no meaning—the “wisdom” that really is nothing but repetition of familiar remarks. At best, the reasoning behind the use of such expressions is “surface level deep” or “superficial,” which means lacking depth or profundity—literally “only on the top (super-) layer (-ficial).”