1. Although the restaurant was known for its _______ delicacies, they found the dishes they ordered were _______.   ornate..austere   savory..insipid   sensual..insatiable   assiduous..inert   gingerly..bland   Hint Hint       2. _______ remarks are intended to _______ others.   Profound..distend   Conciliatory..instigate   Propitious..provoke   Inane..edify   Disparaging..belittle   Hint       3. The villagers administered the _______ to _______ the effects of the snake venom.   antidote..counteract   poison..preempt   placebo..negate   antibody..protract   antiseptic..amplify   Hint       4. The publisher was out of stock within a fortnight after he received a _______ of orders for the new book.   plethora   cavalcade   paucity   conflagration   carnage   Hint       5. The cross-border terrorism _______ the bitterness already existing between the two countries.   abridged   endorsed   confounded   deprecated   exacerbated   Hint       6. It is astonishing to see such extraordinary results from a mere _______.   epicure   connoisseur   glutton   confidant   tyro   Hint       7. The mistletoe is a plant that is partially _______ : it depends on the host plant only for water as it has green leaves to make food.   arable   virulent   ascetic   parasitic   anthropomorphic   Hint