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We might just have a problem that you’ll understand…
Which words could fill in the blanks so that the sentence below makes sense?
Though he was often criticized for being resistant to other points of view, the blank appealed
to the fanatical audience with his blank refusal to compromise his ideals.
And here are the potential answers...
The sentence tells us that the guy it’s talking about is resistant to other points
of view and refuses to compromise his ideals.
All of that is a fancy way of saying that this dude is gung-ho for one thing and one
thing only.
So whatever word fits in the first blank has got to describe this kind of totally obsessive
person. Let’s start by seeing what words just don’t
fit in the first blank at all.
A doesn’t work because ingrate means someone who’s ungrateful.
D doesn’t really work either, because a heretic describes someone whose beliefs go
against the powers that be.
We can’t eliminate (B), (C), or (E) yet, because the first words could all fit in the
first blank.
A zealot is a person who’s a total fanatic about a religion or a cause.
A crusader can be used to describe someone who’s super dedicated to a cause.
And a demagogue is a leader who gains power through appeals to the public’s emotions.
All of these could work, so it looks like we’ll have to move on to the second blank
and see what it can help us eliminate.
Obscure is used to describe something that’s barely known or understood.
It wouldn’t make sense to describe someone's refusal to compromise his ideals that way,
so we can get rid of (C).
“Obliterated refusal” doesn’t make any sense, either, so we can obliterate E right
now. In fact, we can go ahead and obliterate everything
but choice (B).
"Obdurate" means to be stubborn, and "zealot" means fanatic, so our answer is B.
As in, “Banana Republic?”