Barron's 2

Question 1

plaintive

Answer 1

melancholy; mournful

Question 2

refractory

Answer 2

stubborn, resisting ordinary methods of treatment

Question 3

asperity

Answer 3

severity; harshness; irritability

Question 4

sensuous

Answer 4

relating to the senses

Question 5

subsume

Answer 5

to include, incorporate

Question 6

puissant

Answer 6

powerful

Question 7

prehensile

Answer 7

capable of grasping

Question 8

intangible

Answer 8

not material

Question 9

resolution

Answer 9

determination, resolve

Question 10

Elysian

Answer 10

delightful; blissful

Question 11

tortuous

Answer 11

having many twists and turns, highly complex

Question 12

distill

Answer 12

extract the essential elements

Question 13

fissure

Answer 13

crevice

Question 14

hallowed

Answer 14

holy; sacred

Question 15

ingenous

Answer 15

naive and trusting; lacking sophistication

Question 16

convention

Answer 16

practice widely observed in a group; custom; accepted technique or device

Question 17

egoism

Answer 17

the tendency to see things in relation to oneself; self-centeredness

Question 18

venal

Answer 18

mercenary, corruptible

Question 19

platonic

Answer 19

spiritual; theoretical

Question 20

supplicant

Answer 20

one who asks humbly and earnestly

Question 21

document

Answer 21

to provide with written evidence to support

Question 22

execrable

Answer 22

detertable; abhorrent

Question 23

cant

Answer 23

insincere talk; language of a particular group

Question 24

dichotomy

Answer 24

division into two usually contradictory parts

Question 25

piquant

Answer 25

pleasantly pungent; attractive

Question 26

piety

Answer 26

devoutness

Question 27

equable

Answer 27

steady; unvarying; serene

Question 28

alchemy

Answer 28

medieval chemical philosophy based on changing metal into gold; a seemingly magical power or process of transmutation

Question 29

skeptic

Answer 29

one who doubts

Question 30

solicitous

Answer 30

concerned, attentive, eager