Re: Tentative, fearful even, his first forays into the theatrical arts wer
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16 Oct 2025, 13:13
The sentence describes the person's first attempts ("first forays") into the theatrical arts as "Tentative, fearful even." The adverb "hardly" negates the word that follows. Therefore, the blank needs a word that means successful, promising, or encouraging.
The complete thought is: "His first attempts were not successful/promising."
- auspicious: Showing or suggesting that future success is likely; propitious.
- favorable: Full of promise; indicating a good outcome.
If his forays were "hardly auspicious" or "hardly favorable," it means they were not promising or successful, which aligns perfectly with the description "Tentative, fearful even."
Distractor Analysis
- A. unheralded: Unnoticed or not announced. This doesn't fit the context of success or promising starts.
- C. commendable: Deserving praise. While his effort might be commendable, the sentence focuses on the success/quality of the forays, making this a weaker fit.
- D. unpropitious: Not giving or indicating a good chance of success; unfavorable. Since the sentence uses "hardly," substituting this would create a double negative: "hardly unpropitious" means "somewhat propitious," which contradicts "tentative, fearful."
- E. satisfactory: Fulfilling expectations. While a possibility, auspicious and favorable are stronger synonyms and directly relate to the idea of a promising start, which is key when discussing "first forays."
The best pair of synonyms that fit the context and meaning are auspicious and favorable.