Select the word that best completes the sentence.
Ordinarily ______, the chairman shouted at the delegates.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: E. placid
- Step 1: The adverb "Ordinarily" sets up an antithetical contrast between the chairman's customary temperament and his unexpected emotional outburst of shouting.
- Step 2: The adjective placid means calm, peaceful, and not easily irritated. Volatile descriptors like irascible, choleric, and combative describe an habitually angry individual, which would make shouting ordinary rather than surprising.
Answer
placid.
Why not the others: Irascible describes someone prone to sudden anger; volatile means erratic and emotionally unpredictable; choleric denotes bad-tempered and easily irritated; combative describes an aggressive eagerness to fight.
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