Grandmother Sylvia never spoke ill of anybody that she knew or did not know. This did not prevent her from making __________ remarks about others. She merely pronounced such views in carefully crafted __________.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

They only had a __________ amount of food prepared for the party, and it was gone within minutes after the first hungry guests arrived, creating a __________ of snacks later in the evening.

Choose the set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Thanks to carefully crafted financial devices, the firm’s assets were particularly __________ from any collateral effects of the prices of several key commodities. Even if the prices of these goods fluctuated greatly, the assets would basically be at __________ with their initial values.

The cat demonstrated its __________ by remaining __________ on the couch all day, never once getting up, only twitching its ears and tail and occasionally yawning widely.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

As the bank robber was known for his __________ for oftentimes fatal violence, the police considered it __________ that they find the him as soon as possible.

Choose the set of words that best completes the following sentence.

The country had become quite accustomed to __________ alterations in __________, always changing its entire political structure every nineteen years.

Spilled from the back of an overly-full garbage truck, the disgusting __________ scattered across the front yard ruined the look of the tiny cottage, which would otherwise have looked __________ and inviting, with its attractive old brick walls, rose garden, and smoking chimney.

__________ in paying heed to every detail of the project, Katherine erected an impressive end product in which not a single __________ was mediocre.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

Donald’s friends marveled at his __________. Even on holidays like Thanksgiving, he ate very moderately in spite of the __________ meal offered.

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

In giving advice to his friend, the naïve young man lisped a number of __________ that he had unquestioningly learned during his childhood. The friend was unconvinced by the __________ reasoning presented in defense of such purportedly profound moral “insights.”