Question

1. the courts of many renaissance princes were jammed with (parasites, lairs) toadies, and other idle hangers - on.
2. the sudden thunderstorm made a (morbid, botch) of the picnic, forcing us to flee for cover and soaking most of our food.
3. after buying all the supplies for the club party, we were delighted to find that we had a grand (surplus, veto) of 65 cents.
4. the best way to avoid those (grueling, bellowing) cram sessions just before the exams is to do your work steadily all term long.
5. their record is 100% consistent—they have managed to (botch, clutter) every job they have undertaken.
6. my experience has been that people who cut corners on small matters will also (shirk, botch) their obligations.
7. we who live in the united states today are the chief (beneficiaries, parasites) of the rich heritage of freedom left to us by the framers of the constitution.
8. ever since i was bitten by a stray mutt years ago, i have had a (morbid, lavish) fear of all dogs.
9. she was indeed fortunate to find herself working under a person who was (notorious, hospitable) to her novel ideas.
10. most presidents dont like to exercise their (veto, beneficiary) power often.

Explanation:

These questions are about choosing the correct vocabulary word to complete each sentence, which involves understanding word meanings and context. This falls under Linguistics (a subfield of Arts) as it deals with language, vocabulary, and semantics. For example, in question 16, "parasites" fits the context of idle hangers - on at Renaissance courts better than "lairs". In question 17, "botch" (to mess up) makes sense for a thunderstorm ruining a picnic, while "morbid" (related to death or illness) does not. We analyze each sentence's context and the meaning of the word pairs to select the correct one.

Answer:

1. parasites
2. botch
3. surplus
4. grueling
5. botch
6. shirk
7. beneficiaries
8. morbid
9. hospitable
10. veto