Re: Because the corporation has suffered consecutive quarter losses, at ti
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30 Jan 2026, 05:00
Answer: (E)
The first part of the sentence describes how the corporation is doing very poorly, 'suffered...'. Therefore this is a subtle time shift because of the words 'fondly recall...'. Meaning at a prior period things for the company were going very well.
(A) prodigal means wasteful and is too negative of a word to match up with 'fondly recall'. If the company had been prodigal, it would have been wasting all of its money, spending it on useless thing. People would not fondly recall such days. Also, prodigal times does not directly contrast with "arbitrarily terminating" jobs. You could "arbitrarily terminate jobs" during prodigal days. "Arbitrarily terminating jobs" does not happen during halycon times.
(B) predictable has a negative connotation. True it can be argued 'predictable' is better than suffering but a positive word best fits the blank. For instance, even arbitrarily terminating jobs can become the norm so that so-and-so got fired becomes somewhat predictable.
(C) insufferable means very difficult to put up with.
(D) archaic means ancient. It has a neutral connotation. Archaic days could be either good or bad.
(E) halcyon means calm and pleasant. In other words, the "good old days".