1. Given the influx of information via social media, the only way that a person can function effectively is to __________, to metaphorically separate the wheat from the chaff.
2. Although accommodating in person, George Orwell __________ defended his political positions in print.
3. Although historically, paints were often tinted with toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, __________ number of painters lived to be seventy, eighty, and even ninety.
4. The phrase “gilding the lily” is a late 19th century expression that sneered at the ostentatious gestures of some of the newly rich, such as applying gold gilt to the carved lilies on the entrances of their Beaux Arts homes; for decades, it then served as a shorthand for any __________ and showy behavior.
5. In 1905, there were only fourteen automobiles in the United States, yet, __________ enough, two of them ran into each other in St. Louis.
6. A “Mycenaean waist” refers to the taut, impossibly small waists characteristic of certain ancient drawings found on Crete, and it certainly does not __________ any characteristic of modern, overweight Western societies.
7. In the 19th century, Thomas Carlyle called economics “the dismal science,” in part because of Malthus’s theory that population growth would outpace our natural resources, causing widespread __________.
8. In uncertain times, __________ theories often gain greater and faster adherence among the populace than proven ones do.
9. While the legend of Custer’s last stand is commonly accepted and oft cited as an example of fortitude in the face of adversity, recent studies of the remains indicate that, __________, many soldiers chose suicide rather than risk capture by the Sioux.
10. In the early 1920’s, Paul Cassirer, a Berlin art dealer, was famous not only for his clients, such as Renoir, but also for __________ a credulous art world by correctly exposing several purported Van Gogh works as forgeries.