OE


penetrate, infiltrate You are told that Nathan Hale was a spy working for the “nascent (coming into being) United States” and that he was captured by the British. That means he must have been involved in some kind of espionage in “British-controlled” New York. A good fill-in would be break into. Thwart (prevent [someone] from accomplishing something) and conquer (take control of by military force) are vaguely related, but are not quite a pair. Permeate (spread throughout; pervade) and research have no relationship.