Question

Which sentence correctly uses the word abysmal? While breaking one pencil during the SATs is bad luck, breaking six pencils is downright abysmal. Peering over the edge into the dark abysmal, Frank thought maybe he wasn’t cut out for caving. Jill could not understand Seth’s unflappable abysmal in the face of certain failure. Phil nearly fell into the deep abysmal due to his foolish habit of reading while walking.

Answer 1

The correct answer is While breaking one pencil during the SATs is bad luck, breaking six pencils is downright abysmal.
Because abysmal is an adjective, and in the rest of the examples it is incorrectly used instead of a noun. 

Answer 2

Answer:

While breaking one pencil during the SATs is bad luck, breaking six pencils is downright abysmal

Explanation:

Abysmal is an adjective. It means  extremely bad. In the example above , the phrase is dowright abysmal : downright is  premodifyinfg abysmal and it means extremely. Therefore, the speaker is emphasising the fact that  breaking six pencils while doing an international exam is really bad luck,