Fill in the Blanks

The word 'but' signals a contrast. The sentence contrasts polite manners with emotional distance. 'Aloof' means distant, reserved, or cool in manner - it properly contrasts with being courteous (polite) while maintaining logical coherence. 'Allusive' means indirect in reference, 'alien' means foreign, 'friendly' would not create a proper contrast.

'Boast' is followed by 'about'; 'aggrandise' (increase in size or intensity) fits here. 'Insist' is followed by 'on', alos it doesn't make sense here.

Aloof means to stay away or be indifferent. Away could also have been the answer, but the preposition 'of' after the blank suggests that allof must be the answer. 'Away from' is the correct usage if you want to use 'away'. 

Here, ambiguous is the best options to go for because an ambiguous response doesn't explain something which requires an explanation. Ambiguous refers to something which is not clear, doubtful or something having several possible interpretations.

'Apprised' means informed, notified, or made aware of something - the correct fit for 'have been [informed] about.' 'Estimated' means calculated roughly, 'aware' lacks the passive construction needed, and 'gauged' means measured or assessed. Only 'apvised' completes the logical construction: someone informed them about the situation.

Arrant means complete or thorough, typically used in negative contexts. Arrant self importance is a standard phrase meaning complete or utter arrogance, which perfectly fits the context of someone pretentiously acting superior.

Productive directly relates to economic output and efficiency, which is essential for development. A productive workforce converts resources into wealth, making it the most relevant quality for successful development and modernisation.

Inflict is the standard military verb for causing damage or casualties on an enemy. Incur means to suffer casualties, not cause them. Caused is grammatically correct but inflict is the precise military term for delivering casualties.

Disrupt means to interrupt or throw into disorder, which is what religious intolerance does to social peace. Effect means to bring about, which is positive. Discourage and prevent are less precise than disrupt for describing how intolerance damages harmony.

Bothering is the only verb that grammatically agrees with the progressive form Is ... bothering you. Effecting is incorrectly formed for this context. Interesting and hurting would need different grammatical structures to work.

Condemned means to express strong disapproval of something, which is the appropriate response to exploitation. Criticised is milder. Encouraged is opposite in meaning. Ensued means followed, which doesn't fit syntactically or semantically.

Extraterrestrial means outside Earth or from outer space, which is the logical opposite of terrestrial. Space exploration specifically looks for life beyond Earth, making extraterrestrial the precise scientific term.

Plunge into is an idiomatic phrasal verb meaning to rush into something suddenly. Run into is different in meaning. Get into and engage into are less precise and not standard collocations for entering hostilities.

Strike up is the correct phrasal verb meaning to begin or initiate a conversation. Strike at means to attack. Strike to and strike with are not standard phrasal verbs for starting conversations.

Sedative specifically means producing calm or sleep, which directly explains why the patient fell asleep. Gentle, warming, and relaxing could describe drug effects but sedative is the precise medical term for sleep-inducing properties.