1. Although there was hardly any scope to find fault with the minister's cautiously worded response, several members of the opposition took _______ it.   pleasure in   exception to   advice from   liking for   liberties with   Hint Hint       2. Even though the region was prone to hurricanes, the _______ of the tornado last year was _______.   inevitability..mercurial   probity..portentous   ferocity..unprecedented   levity..lethal   portent..poignant   Hint       3. The educational system had _______ over a period of time when the authorities got preoccupied with petty politics and did not bother to update the curriculum.   burnished   underscored   adulterated   relegated   ossified   Hint       4. After having _______ arguments virtually every other day, the couple agreed that it was best for them to separate.   acerbic   saturnine   effulgent   astringent   assiduous   Hint       5. The air-conditioning unit was operated so as to strike some balance between the danger of _______ electricity bills and the desire of employees to be comfortable during the summer months.   prudent   inchoate   optimum   inordinate   exigent   Hint       6. Scientific investigations of fluid flow behavior around objects like high-speed aircrafts are complex; however, the systems are _______ when experiments are performed in scaled-down versions such as wind tunnels.   malleable   permeable   implacable   turbulent   tractable   Hint       7. Legislation has been introduced in some states that requires plastic bags be made of biodegradable material which gradually _______ over a period of time when exposed to sunlight.   secretes   decomposes   proliferates   subsides   ossifies   Hint