Select the word that best completes the sentence.
Her ______ humor, gentle and never cruel, made her a beloved teacher.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: E. benign
- Step 1: The parenthetical clarification "gentle and never cruel" characterizes the humor as mild, wholesome, and incapable of causing distress.
- Step 2: The adjective benign means harmless, gentle, and kindly. Hostile descriptors such as caustic, sardonic, mordant, and acerbic signify harsh and mocking humor.
Answer
benign.
Why not the others: Sardonic describes cynical, derisive mockery; caustic means biting, corrosive, and cutting; mordant signifies sharply sarcastic and biting wit; acerbic denotes harsh, severe, and sharp criticism.
Practise more Text completion.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed GRE mock tests.
More Text completion questions
- Select the word that best completes the sentence.
The professor's lecture was so ______ that even students with no background in physics co… - Select the word that best completes the sentence.
Despite the critics' ______ reviews, the play drew large audiences for years. - Select the word that best completes the sentence.
His ______ nature made him a difficult negotiator; he refused every reasonable compromise… - Select the word that best completes the sentence.
The politician's speech was full of ______: grand phrases that said almost nothing. - Select the word that best completes the sentence.
Far from being ______, the CEO's decision was carefully considered over many months. - Select the word that best completes the sentence.
The new evidence ______ the theory, leaving its supporters with little to defend.