OE

We know from the word although that the first half of the first sentence is meant to contrast with the second half, so if The Picture of Dorian Gray is now an acclaimed work, it must have been ignored or even criticized at the time it was published. Vaunted, which means boasted of, is close to the opposite of what we are looking for, then. Expunged is better, but still not a good choice; it means erased or wiped out, which the novel clearly was not, given that it is still in existence today. The best answer is reviled, which means vilified or disparaged. We don't have much to go on for the second blank, except that the novel was taken as an account of moral depravity; we can assume, at least, that the missing adjective is nothing complimentary. Histrionic, which means deliberately affected or overly dramatic, is somewhat plausible, but don't pick it until you've read through all the choices. Insipid is probably not correct; it means vapid or bland, which just doesn't seem a strong enough description for a supposedly immoral story. Lurid, on the other hand, ties in with the book's perceived immorality and is therefore the best choice; it means gruesome, shocking, or terrible in intensity. The final blank clearly deals with the effect of social climate on the reception of a piece of art. Emblazon does not seem like a very good choice; it means to decorate with brilliant colors or to proclaim, whereas this passage is about the lack of recognition Dorian Gray received as a result of its social context. Atrophy (to affect with atrophy, which means degeneration, decline, or disuse) will not work either, unless you believe that social climate can affect the actual value (i.e. not the perceived value) of something. The correct answer is obfuscate, which means to make obscure or unclear.