Questions 1.what does apply mean? In this case it means to almost physically give, or touch, as when the priest physically touches the forehead of a dying man with his thumb making the sign of the cross. 2.what does To direct the taking of mean? In this case it means to ask someone else to do something, ie. make them swear on the bible that this is their real name for a legal document 3. impose means force someone to accept something ,right? No, in this case it means to do what is necessary and proper to do, it is a legal connotation of implementing / doing / giving / handing down justice 4.what does tender mean? Tender is like giving / trading / offering something. We usually use the word to mean money as in "legal tender" which means something that can be exchanged for something else of value. Also, here it more directly means, one can talk of "administering an estate" which is when a lawyer handles the distribution of a dead person's will. 5.what does whim mean? Without planning, on the spur of the moment, without forethought. But in this context, "administering their every whim" means that you are chasing after the person, doing everything they ask, like a butler, or subordinate. Don't you think italki administers this site well? (Answer 1 to 5 above?)