Fill in the Blank

Question 1

The town council preferred him to be modest about his exploits, and his present fits of hubris were met with resounding __________

a) encomium
b) perspicacity
c) obloquy
d) pastiche
e) panegyric

Answer 1

If the town council prefers modesty, then fits of ‘hubris’ or excessive arrogance would be criticized.

encomium = praise
perspicacity = astuteness
obloquy = criticism
pastiche = artwork that imitates other pieces
panegyric = praise

Answer C = obloquy

Question 2

In The Divine Comedy, the pagan poet Virgil appears as an appropriate guide through Hell and Purgatory on account of writing the Messianic Eclogue, a poem mistakenly regarded in the Middle Ages as a Christian prophecy.

on account of writing
on account of his writing
because he wrote
because of writing
as having written

Answer 2

The underlined portion is wordy and contains an -ing verb form, when a simpler form would be sufficient. Expect the correct answer to tighten up the wording and avoid the weak -ing verb form. Also, the verb tense is incorrect, because the present participle “writing” puts this action in the same time frame as “appears,” but Virgil must have written the work that got him into trouble before he arrived in Hell.

A quick scan of the choices reveals a 2-2-1 split on the first words, with (A) and (B) using “on account of,” (C) and (D) using “because,” and (E) using “as.” Additionally, while (B) and (D) retain (A)’s “writing,” (C) changes it to “wrote” and (E) to “having written.”

(B) has the same issues as (A), and it adds the word “his.” “His” is not necessary here and just adds to the wordiness of the original underlined portion. Eliminate (B).

(D) uses “because,” which is more direct and concise than “on account of.” But (D) doesn’t do anything about the weak “writing” verb form in the wrong tense. Eliminate (D).

(E) seems to describe how Virgil appears. He appears “as having written….” This makes no sense, so (E) must be eliminated.

(C) is concise and direct. “Because” replaces the wordier “on account of,” and the simple past tense “he wrote” replaces “writing.” (C) is correct.