Read the following sentence.Mariah’s voice shook and her hands fluttered as she floundered helplessly to answer the difficult questions Steven was asking her.

“Floundered” means to struggle or have difficulty, especially when trying to do something. Mariah is described as answering helplessly while Steven asks difficult questions, so “struggled” best fits the sentence. “Succeeded” means the opposite, and “restored” and “maintained” do not match the context.

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