Directions: select the answer that best completes the sentence.
The voters first thought the candidate was ________, so they were horrified to discover the level of his ________.
(a) honorable...veracity
(b) tiresome...nonchalance
(c) principled...perfidy
(d) reprobate...wantonness
(e) corrupt...turpitude
Discussion: The structure of the sentence with the voters first thinking one thing and later discovering something else tells us that we need contrasting words. Also, the word "horrified" tells us that the second term will be negative (which means the first term needs to be positive). Only choice (c), "principled" and "perfidy," fulfills the requirements.
Vocabulary:
- corrupt - crooked; depraved; debased; polluted
- honorable - upright; worthy of respect
- nonchalance - cool; lacking concern
- perfidy - treachery; disloyalty
- principled - having moral principles; having a well-defined sense of rightness and morality
- reprobate - a wicked or depraved person
- tiresome - wearisome; annoying
- turpitude - depravity; shamefulness
- veracity - truthfulness; honesty
- wantonness - maliciousness; immorality
