OE


As the first sentence of this passage implies, incest is taboo in many contemporary cultures, so you should look for a word that expresses strong censure or disapproval. Venial means not seriously wrong or excusable and is a near antonym. Ancillary will also not work; it means subordinate or auxiliary and would imply that society approved of, or at least tolerated, incest. The correct answer is abhorred (detested).

By contrast, the second blank requires a word that means something stronger than tolerated; if brother-sister marriages were actually used by the royal family for a specific purpose, they must have been approved of or even required. You can, therefore, rule out condoned (to overlook or to excuse). Rectified (remedied or righted) will not work in this sentence either, as it implies that brother-sister marriages were seen as a problem to be fixed. This leaves you with mandated, which means authorized or required.

To fill in the last blank, you will need to think about what the purpose of marrying within the royal family might have been. You can probably guess that the Egyptian royal family, like most royalty throughout history, wanted their line to remain untainted by inferior blood, so the missing word probably means something like pure. Omnipotent will not work because the missing word is modifying bloodline rather than family; the family almost certainly wished to remain unlimited in power, but it does not make much sense to refer to the bloodline in this way. Empyreal is also slightly off the mark; it means pertaining to the sky or celestial. As a matter of fact, the Egyptian royals were considered divine, but since this information is not provided in the passage itself, it is best to eliminate this answer. The correct answer is immaculate, or free from spot or stain.