Why not bleak ?
bleak - gloomy

Simone de Beauvoir’s ____(NEGATIVE)___ picture of immortality:

Doesn't mawkish mean overly-emotional?

Falsely sentimental

Didn't understand the 1st blank. Immortality is shown to be implausible/not very realistic; bleak seemed relevant here.

Detailed Analysis
1. Analyze the Scenario: The protagonist wants to keep his wife's memory alive, but due to immortality and the passage of a hundred years, he forgets what she looks like.
2. Analyze Blank (i): Picture of Immortality (Negative/Ironic)
- Context: The scenario described (vowing to remember but failing completely) is a very negative or ironic view of immortality, suggesting it leads not to eternal life with loved ones, but to tragic, lonely oblivion.
- dank: Unpleasantly damp and cold. (Literal meaning doesn't fit the figurative context.)
- mawkish: Sentimental in a feeble or sickening way. (Doesn't fit the tragic outcome.)
- bleak: Lacking vegetation and exposed to the elements; figuratively, cold, miserable, or grim. (Excellent Fit. The loss of memory after a century paints a grim picture of immortality.)
3. Analyze Blank (ii): The Relationship (Contrast/Concession)
- Context: The protagonist suffers his wife's death and vows to keep her memory... some hundred years later he forgets what she looked like. The second clause (he forgets) contradicts the first clause (he vows). This requires a transition word showing contrast or concession.
- since: From the time when; because. (Shows time or cause, not contrast.)
- although: In spite of the fact that; even though. (Excellent Fit. "Even though he vows to keep her memory, he forgets.")
- whence: From what place or source. (Shows origin, incorrect.)

I agree

The correct answers chould be C and E