The phrase "they'd stand flat-footed" (paragraph 5, sentence 6) suggests that

she is later raised by him and his wife, madame valmonde, who sees her as gift from god, as the couple cannot have their own children. later, desiree falls in love with a wealthy man, armand aubigny, and they get married.

#1  sara was always tasked with selecting birthday presents for her friends and family because everyone admired her  impeccable taste. 

impeccable (adj): perfect, flawless

#2  they moved to the united states many years ago, but their  insular  attitudes made it difficult for them to socialize. 

insular (adj): isolated; separate

#3  the professor explained the  semantic  relationship between the two nouns used in the sentence. 

semantic (adj): related to words or the meanings of words 

happy to : )

your eyes are the first things that you open

the direction of the magnetic field produced by an electric current will change when the direction of the electric current changes. for example : if a current is flowing in a straight length of wire, the magnetic field is described by a concentric circle (using right-hand rule).