The professor’s ____________ demeanor not only made others reluctant to approach her, but also ____________ the intellectual growth that comes from the ____________ of ideas.
The sentence uses the idiom not only....but also to indicate related ideas.
What kind of demeanor will make others reluctant to approach the professor? It is certainly a non-inviting demeanor, and the best choice from the word list is
disdainful. Now what can such an attitude do to intellectual growth? Since the contact with professors is discouraged it can only stifle or reduce intellectual growth. The correct word from the choice list is
limited. And intellectual growth comes from exchange of ideas so
interchange is the best word from the list.
Repression and repudiation are tempting traps one may likely to fall into if one does not follow the logical train of thought in the second part of the sentence after the comma and instead focuses on the word
disdainful and expects a negative word.
_________________