To determine the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation, I'll analyze each question:
1. A. anxiety B. admire C. captivate D. popularity
The words "anxiety", "admire", and "popularity" have the stress on the second syllable, while "captivate" has the stress on the first syllable. So, the answer is C.
2. A. origin B. festivity C. dish D. spicy
The words "origin", "festivity", and "spicy" have the stress on the first syllable, while "dish" has no stress on the first syllable (it's a monosyllabic word). So, the answer is C.
3. A. decrease B. expand C. concern D. reliable
The words "expand", "concern", and "reliable" have the stress on the second syllable, while "decrease" has the stress on the first syllable. So, the answer is A.
4. A. gradual B. building C. product D. crowded
The words "building", "product", and "crowded" have the stress on the first syllable, while "gradual" also has the stress on the first syllable. However, looking at the other options, "building", "product", and "crowded" have a similar pattern, whereas "gradual" has a "uː" sound in the second syllable, but that is not the deciding factor. Actually, it's the "ua" in gradual vs. the double vowels or single vowel then single consonant in the other options. However, we can observe that gradual has a similar pattern with the other words in terms of having a single vowel then a consonant cluster then another vowel, while the other three words all have double consonants after a vowel or diphthong, which makes A, the answer less likely. So, I looked into other factors and observed that the other three words have double consonants after the stress and the vowel sound in the stress syllable is a short sound. So gradual would be less likely the answer. Then, I looked into other factors. In this case, the pattern of vowel + consonant(s) for the stress syllable is broken by "building". However, that is not the only pattern we can look for, and another pattern can be found with the second syllable. In this case, "gradual" and "product" have a vowel then a consonant then a vowel in their second syllable while "building" and "crowded" have a vowel then a consonant and no more vowel in their second syllable (followed by a consonant or nothing) so, by this metric, "product" would be less likely the answer, leaving us with gradual and building as likely answers. Now, I would analyze other factors and actually the main deciding factor in this question is the fact that gradual, building and crowded all end with a consonant sound, whereas product ends with a "t" sound, but also has a distinct schwa sound that gradual and building don't have. So, in this case, the answer would be D is not the answer, it's actually C or A, but more likely, the correct answer would be A.
5. A. plastic B. cardboard C. package D. landfill
The words "plastic", "cardboard", and "landfill" have the stress on the first syllable, while "package" has the stress on the second syllable. So, the answer is C.
6. A. container B. footprint C. compost D. conditioner
The words "container", "footprint", and "compost" have the stress on the first syllable, while "conditioner" has the stress on the second syllable, however, the deciding factor is actually the first syllable sound of "container" vs the first syllable sound of the other words, since "container" starts with a schwa sound while the other words do not, but the other words also do not have the same first syllable sound, so another factor needs to be considered. Another pattern we can observe is that the other words have the same vowel sound in the first syllable, while "container" has a different vowel sound, so this would suggest that "container" is not the answer. Actually, the deciding factor is the pattern of consonant + vowel (then consonant and/or more vowel(s)) in the first syllable that "footprint" and "compost" have in common. Then, I analyzed other factors and another pattern is the stress syllable sound, but that doesn't provide enough information since the vowel sound in the stress syllable of all the words is not the same, however, another factor can be observed and it's the first consonant and vowel sound of "conditioner" vs the first consonant and vowel sound of the other words. The words "container", "footprint" and "compost" have a different pattern for the first consonant and vowel sound than the word "conditioner". The pattern of "conditioner" is more similar to the other words in some other aspects but in terms of the first consonant and vowel sound "conditioner" is more similar to "container" but "container" doesn't break the pattern in the same way "conditioner" does since conditioner has a distinct "n" sound followed by a diphthong while the other words have a different pattern for their first consonant then vowel sound, and the word that breaks this pattern is actually "conditioner" since it has a "n" followed by a diphthong in the first syllable while the other words have a different pattern.