The following text is adapted from a novel about a filmmaker.

The director had no real patience for improvisation, but she had a passion for the visual and could be keenly sensitive to a location which was the fitting backdrop for her story. The desolate beach seemed an extension of the script’s mood, and she found the scene perfect in its grayness, its emptiness, its silence.

As used in the text, what does the word "fitting" most nearly mean?

The following text is from a poem about a hike.

Go forward, friend, Guided by the map's red line! High peaks, yet unseen, Wait For your arrival. I cannot, if I wished, Retrace the trail with you, My hiking days are done, But the mountain calls to you!

As used in the text, what does the word "retrace" most nearly mean?

In 2018, cognitive biologist Dr. Alex Taylor conducted experiments with New Caledonian crows. He found that the birds could solve complex multi-step puzzles to access food and could remember the solutions months later. This finding _______ the common belief that birds lack the intelligence to perform higher-order problem solving.

While the chemical equation for photosynthesis describes the conversion of light into energy, it does not explain the specific molecular triggers that _______ the process within the chloroplasts, a detail that botanists are currently investigating.

The following text is adapted from a story about a diver.

I hovered at the edge of the boat; I checked my oxygen tank; I looked down at the dark waves; the noise of the engine ceased; I could not see beneath the surface; and my mind seemed drawn from the noisy deck to that water expanded below me—a deep blue void absolved from the chaos of the world above.

As used in the text, what does the word "absolved" most nearly mean?

Music historians argue that the emergence of Bebop jazz in the 1940s was not a rejection of the Swing era that preceded it, but rather a natural _______ of it, retaining the rhythmic foundation while increasing the harmonic complexity and tempo.

In many modern video games, players encounter "power-ups" or "traps" while navigating a level; collecting a power-up _______ a player to move faster or defeat enemies more easily, aiding their progress toward the finish line.

When observing elephant herds, biologists note that the matriarch—the oldest female—leads the group. Her authority is maintained not through force, but through wisdom and memory of water sources, which _______ the survival chances of the entire herd during droughts.

Before the invention of the camera, wealthy families often commissioned painted portraits. These artworks were a primary way to preserve the _______ of ancestors, ensuring that future generations would know what their forebears looked like.

For years, engineers tested the new bridge design using a computer program that mimicked the stress of high winds and heavy traffic. The digital model proved that the bridge would hold up under conditions that would cause older designs to collapse.

As used in the text, what does the word "mimicked" most nearly mean?