Question

Fill in the blanks with the right choice of words.
He was normally entirely _____, but in the embarrassing situation in which he found himself, he felt compelled to ______.
a. equable - evade
b. considerate - concede
c. forthright - prevaricate
d. mendacious - equivocate
e. amenable - capitulate

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence very carefully, and understand its meaning. The sentence is broken down into two parts, in which one part tells us how the subject behaves usually and the second part is the unique situation that he finds himself in.

Complete answer: The given sentence is very clearly telling us about a situation that the subject went through. The sentence starts off telling us about how the subject is normally. In normal circumstances, the subject behaved a certain way, however, in the second half, under unusual circumstances, he most likely behaved in the opposite way.
An adjective is a word or set of words that modifies (i.e., describes) a noun or pronoun. Adjectives may come before the word they modify.
Now, we know the meaning and usage of the given word. Let’s look at the given options:
a. equable - evade - The word ‘equable’ is an adjective which means ‘not easily disturbed or angered; calm and even-tempered’ and the word ‘evade’ is a verb which means ‘escape or avoid (someone or something), especially by guile or trickery’. The second word is not the opposite of the first. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b. considerate - concede - The word ‘considerate’ is an adjective which means ‘careful not to inconvenience or harm others’ and the word ‘concede’ is a verb which means ‘admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it’. The second word is not the opposite of the first. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c. forthright - prevaricate - The word ‘forthright’ is an adjective which means ‘(of a person or their manner of speech) direct and outspoken’ and the word ‘prevaricate’ is a verb which means ‘speak or act in an evasive way’. These words are opposites of each other. This is the required answer. So, (c) is the correct option.
d. mendacious - equivocate - The word ‘mendacious’ is an adjective which means ‘not telling the truth; lying’ and the word ‘equivocate’ is a verb which means ‘use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself’. The second word is not the opposite of the first. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
e. amenable - capitulate - The word ‘amenable’ is an adjective which means ‘open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled’ and the word ‘capitulate’ is a verb which means ‘cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; yield’. The second word is not the opposite of the first. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.



Note: Adjectives come in three forms, also called degrees. An adjective in its normal or usual form is called a positive degree adjective. There are also comparative and superlative degrees, which are used for comparison.