Question

Match each bolded word in this excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Contest" with a word that is closest in meaning. In the year of our Lord 66, the Emperor Nero, being at that time in the twenty-ninth year of his life and the thirteenth of his reign, set sail for Greece with the strangest company and the most singular design that any monarch has ever entertained. With ten galleys he went forth from Puteoli, carrying with him great stores of painted scenery and theatrical properties, together with a number of knights and senators, whom he feared to leave behind him at Rome, and who were all marked for death in the course of his wanderings. In his train he took Natus, his singing coach; Cluvius, a man with a monstrous voice, who should bawl out his titles; and a thousand trained youths who had learned to applaud in unison whenever their master sang or played in public. So deftly had they been taught that each had his own rôle to play. Some did no more than give forth a low deep hum of speechless appreciation. Some clapped with enthusiasm. Some, rising from approbation into absolute frenzy, shrieked, stamped, and beat sticks upon the benches. Some—and they were the most effective—had learned from an Alexandrian a long droning musical note which they all uttered together, so that it boomed over the assembly. With the aid of these mercenary admirers, Nero had every hope, in spite of his indifferent voice and clumsy execution, to return to Rome, bearing with him the chaplets for song offered for free competition by the Greek cities.

Answer 1

I found the three words and the choices from another source and these are:

BOLDED WORDS:
singular
approbation
mercenary

CHOICES:
strange
beautiful
shouting
praise
faithful
flattering
punishment

1. Singular - singular, as used in the context, simply means that the design is something remarkable and extraordinary. Since there is no exact word relating to that, we just have to find the closest word with almost the same context. The closest word that we can find among the choices is beautiful.

2. Approbation - approbation is a noun that means approval and acceptance. It denotes all kinds of positive agreement to what the term is referring to. By examining the list of words available, we can find that praise has the nearest meaning to this definition thus this will be the answer.

3. Mercenary - mercenary, by its very definition, is a soldier hired into service for a foreign army. In the context of the passage, however, mercenary is used as a term to denote the faithfulness of the admirers. Like an actual mercenary, the admirers in the passage are loyal. Therefore, the answer for this item is faithful.