2014-06-20 09:00:52

Eleanor was trying to ______ herself from her complicated legal entanglements, but her attempts ironically served to make her further embroiled in them.

(A) lodge
(B) extricate
(C) impugn
(D) muddle
(E) enfranchise

The correct answer is B
Explanation: To find the missing word, try to predict its meaning by using clues in the sentence. Here, we know Eleanor had "entanglements" and that "her attempts ironically" made her "further embroiled." The main clues are, thus, "ironically" and "but," both of which suggest that what she was trying to do was the opposite of getting "further embroiled." This suggests the missing word must mean something like "free" or "dislodge." Choice B is correct, then: "extricate" means "to free oneself of entanglements or difficulties."

None of the other choices work, either:

lodge: to make or become firmly embedded somewhere
impugn: to call something into question or dispute it
muddle: to make something untidy or complicated
enfranchise: to free from slavery or to grant the right to vote to someone