Just as the Elizabethan (i) _____ thought little of Shakespeare because he failed to follow in the footsteps of the great Greeks, some modern critics dislike the best work of the dramatists of our own time, because they are not cast in the Shakespearean mold.

Just as indicates a comparison on the same fashion.

Some modern critics is the word clue.

So you need a word that matches with critics. The only suitable is C.

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Regards

thank you so much for replying.

Pundit is a synonym to critic, so are you sure the answer is C, Reviewer?

Reasons for rejecting A and E ?

Because we do not need the word expert here.

A and E means the same thing: expert.

We need C the reviewers: who critics someone else job.

Hope this helps

The idiom "Just as...." indicates that a similar idea is being proposed in the same sentence. The second part of the sentence says that some modern critics dislike the best dramatic works of our own time because they are not cast in the Shakespearean mold. Therefore we can say that the Elizabethan critics thought little of Shakespeare because he failed to follow in the footsteps of the great Greeks. The word for the blank should therefore be a synonym of critics. A critic studies the works of artists and pronounces his or her judgment. Experts and Pundits are not critics, they are specialists in their own narrow domains. But a reviewer studies the works of artists and gives his opinion (reviews) and judgment on them. Therefore reviewers is the correct word.

Why not E ?

Pundits is leaning more towards experts whereas reviewers give feedbacks or careful analysis that is critical.