Most of the theatergoers agreed that the critic’s review had been (i)__________because it (ii)__________the cordiality of which was her newspaper’s hallmark in favor of belittling criticism.
The critics review did something to the cordiality which was her newspapers hallmark? What did it do? Did it elevate the cordiality or degrade it?
Since we are told that the cordiality was the hallmark of her newspaper in favor of belittling criticism, this comparison itself points in the direction of a criticism which "degraded" the cordiality. Further, looking at the choices gives us some clues. It does not make sense to call a review
magnanimous because it
coincided with the cordiality of the newspaper. Such reviews which
coincide with or
allude to the cordiality can only be called "expected". Neither can a review be called
magnanimous or
diffuse because it dispenses with the well-known cordiality of the newspaper. This leaves us with
pejorative and
dispensed with as the correct choices. They are our only options. Dispensing with the cordiality is almost the same as degrading the cordiality, "degraded" being our own word for the first blank.
The correct choices are
A and
D.
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