The accused affected a ____ air during the interview; he made a vehement protestation of innocents, and just a ___ denial of guilt.
subdued…scathing
bombastic…remorseful
pugnacious…terse
quizzical…loquacious
nonchalant…perfunctory
All too often people are ready to ___ rumors as truth without first trying to ___ them.
accept…substantiate
acknowledge…personify
distort…corroborate
consider…alter
transmit…them
Some scholars argue that literature can be thoroughly understood only within the context of its time; they believe novels are diminished when they are ___ their historical framework.
enlightened by
reduced by
confused with
removed from
exposed to
The ___ among the townspeople was convivial, but the ribbing and prodding were often not viewed as ___ by outsiders.
honesty…empty
banter…friendly
exaggeration…humble
harmony…complimentary
reserve…respectable
A ___ mystery can often be solved through wit and determination; one that is completely ___ might be better just left alone, because there probably is no simple solution.
dignified…mystifying
perplexing…inexplicable
eccentric…stolid
intriguing…reasonable
logical…questionable
The weather was so ____ that everyone complained of the oppressive heat and humidity.
arid
sultry
fetid
stormy
temperate
If good judgment involves both logic and intuitive reasoning, then suppressing the intuition might actually ___ judgment.
distort
manipulate
replace
complement
regulate
Atticus Finch’s skills as ___ were never more evident than when he spoke ___, delivering unrehearsed speeches of unsurpassed eloquence and clarity.
an explicator…belligerently
an orator…cryptically
an obfuscator…improvisational
a diplomat…censoriously
a rhetorician…extemporaneously
He avoided engaging in purely ___ thinking because his training as a lawyer had made him wary of baseless conjecture.
scholarly
topical
symbolic
speculative
controversial
She was not really ___; it was just that she enjoyed ___ and withdrew from time to time to reflect on her life.
a recluse…company
a scholar…success
an introvert…solitude
a reformer…helping
a spectator…entertainment