Re: In claiming that there are overarching commonalities among every cultu
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06 Sep 2025, 02:31
The correct words for the blanks are (i) overstates and (ii) specificity.
Here's a breakdown of why this combination works:
Blank (i): (A) overstates
The sentence sets up a contradiction with the phrase "while there are most likely universal belief systems... surely not all societies display the exact same characteristics." This indicates that Jungenfreud has made a claim that is too strong. Overstates means to express or state something too strongly. This fits the context perfectly, as Jungenfreud claims "overarching commonalities among every culture," but the author of the sentence disagrees that such a definitive claim can be made.
Blank (ii): (E) specificity
The second blank relates to the "level of $\qquad$ of a scholar's criteria." The sentence provides an example to clarify this: it's one thing to talk about a general "elaborate view of the afterlife," but another to show "uncanny parallels between the particulars of this afterlife." The word that best describes this level of detail is specificity. If a scholar's criteria for a "commonality" are too specific, it becomes impossible to find commonalities across all cultures, as Jungenfreud fails to do.