1. Always chary of doling out criticism deemed too ______, the pundit generally adhered to a more diplomatic approach.
2. Unfortunately for the young hire, the amiable, gregarious air of his boss during the initial interview belied a vastly more ______ style on the job, a fact which he learned to his chagrin within the first few days of employment.
3. (i) ______ comprehension of the character of Italian wine is impeded not only by labyrinthine complexities of vineyards and varietals, but also by fluctuations in environmental conditions from year to year, which render even the most reliable vintages subject to (ii) ______.
4. Added to the (i) ______ with which the clerk seems to treat his clients is what appears to be a more general lack of respect for his office; he seems to treat the whole thing as if it were some grand (ii) ______.
5. Proponents of climate change theory have lamented the steady decrease in the ______ of Greenland; they fear that the melting ice will raise sea levels around the world, perhaps flooding coastal cities and much of Florida.
6. The more deeply one delves into the relevant literature, the more apparent it becomes that psychoanalysis is a practice (i) ______. Even tenets that some might deem (ii) ______ to the general philosophy, such as the notion that the human psyche is primarily governed by conflicting desires and is formed in large part by early childhood experiences, are by no means accepted as gospel, even by some of its most (iii) ______.
7. The (i) ______ of the author’s first novel is staggering: the plot is (ii) ______, the characters are entirely (iii) ______, and the prose is trite.
8. The psychic claimed to be able to divine the future by using a forked stick to locate underground water, but his methods were nothing more than ______.
9. The (i) ______ of the author’s first novel is staggering: the plot is (ii) ______, the characters are entirely (iii) ______, and the prose is trite.
10. The participants were of two minds as to whether the psychic had ______ a spirit, but everyone had felt the presence of something new in the room.
11. When he joked about his shortcomings as a husband, his humor grew too (i) ______ for our comfort, becoming so bitter and ironic that we found ourselves (ii) ______.
12. Churchill conceded that Russia, (i) ______ an ally of France and Great Britain, was in fact (ii) ______ to their security, but argued that Russian national interest would compel it to make (iii) ______ with those countries.
13. Just as ancient Greek culture in some ways provided the Romans with a model, the remnants of Roman culture ______ the development of medieval European mores.
14. The famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took almost two hundred years to complete; this immense architectural effort included the first notable use of a flying ______, but this renowned feature was not part of the original design and only employed when the walls forming the nave began to crumble and needed additional support.
15. Once the candidate established herself as the clear frontrunner, it took but a brief interlude in the clamor for all her erstwhile (i) ______ to gather around her and to begin loudly proclaiming their (ii) ______. It seemed, in other words, to cause these newcomers not an iota of discomfort to behave in a manner that a casual observer might have characterized as (iii) ______ outright hypocrisy.
16. Some substances toxic to humans induce lassitude and torpor, whereas others incite (i) ______ or (ii) ______.
17. The (i) ______ of the author’s first novel is staggering: the plot is (ii) ______, the characters are entirely (iii) ______, and the prose is trite.
18. Once the candidate established herself as the clear frontrunner, it took but a brief interlude in the clamor for all her erstwhile (i) ______ to gather around her and to begin loudly proclaiming their (ii) ______. It seemed, in other words, to cause these newcomers not an iota of discomfort to behave in a manner that a casual observer might have characterized as (iii) ______ outright hypocrisy.
19. The participants were of two minds as to whether the psychic had ______ a spirit, but everyone had felt the presence of something new in the room.
20. When he joked about his shortcomings as a husband, his humor grew too (i) ______ for our comfort, becoming so bitter and ironic that we found ourselves (ii) ______.
21. Churchill conceded that Russia, (i) ______ an ally of France and Great Britain, was in fact (ii) ______ to their security, but argued that Russian national interest would compel it to make (iii) ______ with those countries.
22. Just as ancient Greek culture in some ways provided the Romans with a model, the remnants of Roman culture ______ the development of medieval European mores.
23. (i) ______ the law had little impact, but it was (ii) ______ by subsequent legislation providing funding and enforcement.
24. Evoking both horror and joy in its audience in equal measure, the opera became an instant classic of ______ technique.
25. The famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took almost two hundred years to complete; this immense architectural effort included the first notable use of a flying ______, but this renowned feature was not part of the original design and only employed when the walls forming the nave began to crumble and needed additional support.
26. While no single empirical investigation can ever conclusively prove the (i) ______ of a theory, the fact that our data are (ii) ______ findings from over a dozen independent labs worldwide bodes well for our framework’s resilience.
27. Once the candidate established herself as the clear frontrunner, it took but a brief interlude in the clamor for all her erstwhile (i) ______ to gather around her and to begin loudly proclaiming their (ii) ______. It seemed, in other words, to cause these newcomers not an iota of discomfort to behave in a manner that a casual observer might have characterized as (iii) ______ outright hypocrisy.
28. Mozart’s brief life exemplified a discrepancy between fame and means: as his musical star (i) ______ beyond measure, his income (ii) ______.