Retired Moderator
Joined: 07 Jun 2014
Posts: 4812
Given Kudos: 0
WE:Business Development (Energy and Utilities)
Re: Two months after the first shots of the American Revolution
[#permalink]
08 Oct 2017, 13:20
Explanation
First, you read that in the view of the commanding British officer, Adams and Hancock had committed “offenses,” so you might anticipate a word like offensive. Second, they were the only rebels whom he would not pardon or forgive, so he considered their behavior “unpardonable, unforgivable.” If you put these all together we’ll get something like “unforgivably offensive.”
Both flagitious and heinous match this meaning. Boorish means something like “crude,” but is much too weak a word to fit this sentence.
Hence options flagitious, heinous are correct!