What's on the GRE: Verbal Section

Answer choices (B) and (F) are correct.

This is a fairly straightforward question, once you wade through all the polysyllabic words. Look at the end of the second clause; you’ll notice that the student “spent prodigally,” which means “wastefully.” Even if you don’t know the meaning of the word “prodigally,” you can tell from the word “spendthrift” that this is a student who isn’t careful with the way she spends her money. If the student is poor at managing money, she likely doesn’t have much of it.

Start with the first blank. As noted above, the student is poor at managing money. That means whatever goes in the first blank has a meaning roughly synonymous with “poverty.”

Look at the answer choices for the first blank. Choice (B) penury, which means “poverty,” matches the prediction precisely. You can eliminate (A) lucre and (C) avarice, as those mean “wealth” and “greed,” respectively.

For the second blank, recall that the student is described as “recalcitrant,” which is a term for “stubborn.” Also, the student “persisted” in her money-wasting ways. Therefore, she continued to waste money. To “abjure” is to “renounce or repudiate,” so she repudiated spending wisely. Thus, “self-” must carry the meaning of restraint or self-denial, since she is renouncing any thought of restraint or temperance. That points to (F) abnegation, which means “denial.” The root—“negate”—provides a helpful vocabulary clue. Choice (D) adumbration means a “foreshadowing,” or “image of things to come,” which makes no sense in this context. Choice (E) aggrandizement is wrong, as it means “an increase in wealth, power, or rank,” and you know she did not shy away from such things if she indulged in overspending.

Putting both answers back into the sentence, you’ll get: Even when faced with continuing penury, the recalcitrant graduate student persisted in her spendthrift ways; she abjured any thought of self-abnegation and spent prodigally.
This sentence makes perfect sense.

Answer choices (D) and (F) are correct.

The first thing you should notice is the structural road sign “regardless,” which functions as a detour road sign. Therefore, the clause after the semicolon will depart from the meaning of the first clause. You’re told in the first clause that Cora is “not known for her reticence,” so the second will indicate hesitance or reluctance.
The blank will be an adverb that describes “acquiesced,” which means to “give in” or “relent.” Since you’re looking for a word that shows Cora being uncharacteristically reticent, a good prediction is reluctantly.

Evaluating the answer choices, you can immediately reject (A) jejunely, “childishly,” which doesn’t make sense, and (B) exuberantly, “gleefully,” which implies Cora was anything but reluctant to speak at the conference. You can eliminate (C) willfully, since it implies that she was headstrong, which does not harmonize with reluctant. Choice (E) candidly, “openly”, doesn’t have a meaning close to reluctant. That leaves (D) grudgingly, meaning “resentfully unwilling,” and (F) timidly, which means “in an easily frightened way.” These two are the best matches.

If you check your answers in the context of the original sentence, you’ll arrive at two sentences that mean: “Cora was not known for being hesitant, but she only reluctantly agreed to speak at the conference.” Notice that the two answer choices are not precise synonyms. Both connote reluctance, but with different shades of meaning.  Grudgingly has an undertone of resentfulness, while timidly implies that one is fearfully shy. However, both produce sentences with similar meanings, and they’re the correct answers.