why "equitable" & "tantamount" is not correct?

tantamount is trap?

I would say is out of scope rather

Hi,

I started by paring the words with similar meanings. And rejected the words highlighted in Red.

□ equitable □ clement □ delimited
□ apposite □ merciful □ tantamount

Debate rages on between proponents and detractors of corporal punishment and the death penalty, though even the most ardent supporter agrees that pun­ishments must be_______________ and the justice system evenhanded and thorough.

The clue for the sentence is "evenhanded and thorough" . Thus, we need a similar words to fill in the blanks. And equitable and apposite works.

As for clement and merciful, we don't have any clues as the why should the punishment be merciful.


IMO A & D
Hope this helps!

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