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B,   D You’re told that Mozart’s genius manifested itself at the “precocious” age of five. “Precocious” means “prematurely developed,” an accurate description of a child prodigy. The blank describes such a genius, so the correct answer must mean “early” or “budding.” Choice (B) incipient “at an early stage” works, since Mozart’s genius was just beginning to blossom if he was five years old. Choice (D) nascent “beginning to exist or develop” creates a sentence nearly identical to the one created by incipient. Reject choice (A) refined, since, by definition, refinement comes with time while this sentence describes Mozart’s beginnings. Choice (C) staggering is harder to eliminate, since the genius of a five-year-old who composes symphonies is certainly staggering, but that doesn’t dovetail with “precocious,” and no other answer choice creates a sentence with similar meaning. Choice (E) fathomless (incomprehensible) can also describe genius, but it doesn’t create a sentence similar to one created by another answer choice. Choice (F) piddling can be rejected outright, since it means “negligible” and certainly doesn’t describe Mozart’s genius.