OFFICIAL EXPLANATION


B

Using what you know about the "stern family" and their feelings toward failure, you can predict that the blank will be filled by a word with a negative charge. You can also deduce this negative connotation by Patricia's fear (she is "petrified") of seeing her family. (B) deride, "to speak ill of," is the correct answer; Patricia could reasonably be afraid that these unpleasant people would say mean things to her. Eliminate (A) venerate and (D) emulate, as they both indicate positive feelings. Choice (C) raze has negative connotations, but it means "physically destroy to the ground," and nothing in the text indicates her family is murderous, just that they are "stern"; the damage Patricia fears is emotional. (E) provoke can be eliminated because, while Patricia might well be provoked, or "angered," by her family's "stern" attitude, the sentence indicates that she is "petrified"—or terrified—of what they would do to her; you cannot deduce that she is afraid of her own reaction to them.