Because the question implied that the judge was not biased toward his decisions during his career.

D is the answer.

Prejudice is used more in a context of taking decision and hence this option wins over favoritism.

then what is the meaning of openly assosciated?

Clearly and without doubt associated with the racist.

Clearly collusion.

Regards

This can be a sentence equivalence question rather than been a TC, because I don't see any distinction between A and D from the context that is been presented here in the sentence. Not a good TC question.

The correct answer is (D) prejudice.

Here's the breakdown:

The word "nevertheless" indicates a contrast between the two clauses of the sentence.
- First clause: "The judge openly associated with racist organizations." This implies he has racist beliefs.
- Second clause: "...he showed no $\qquad$ in his decisions during his career."

The second clause must state that despite his personal beliefs, he did not show a bias in his professional capacity.
- (D) prejudice: This means a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. In this context, it refers to a bias based on his racist beliefs. This word directly contrasts with his associations, suggesting he was able to set his personal beliefs aside when making professional decisions.

The other options do not fit:
- (A) favoritism: This is too narrow; it refers to favoring one person over another, but "prejudice" is a more direct and accurate word to describe his potential bias in this context.
- (B) benevolence: This means kindness or generosity, which is not relevant here.
- (C) openness: This is a general term for being receptive or candid and doesn't fit the context of a lack of bias.
- (E) altruism: This means selfless concern for the well-being of others, which is irrelevant to the judge's lack of bias.