Question

fill in the blank: fill in the blank with the correct words.

1. the politician refused to ____ the controversial policy, choosing instead to remain neutral.
2. her ____ speech moved the audience and earned her a standing ovation.
3. scientists are working hard to ____ diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries.
4. he tends to be ____ in his beliefs, rarely open to considering other perspectives.
5. the explanation he gave was so ____ that no one knew if he was agreeing or disagreeing.

word bank: empathy, eloquent, eradicate, equivocal, endorse, disparage, enigma, ephemeral, dubious, dogmatic

Explanation:

1. The context shows the politician avoids supporting a policy to stay neutral; "endorse" means to publicly support, which fits.
2. A speech that moves an audience and earns an ovation would be persuasive and well-expressed, so "eloquent" is correct.
3. Scientists working on long-plagued diseases aim to get rid of them; "eradicate" means to completely eliminate.
4. Someone unopen to other perspectives holds rigid, unchanging beliefs, which matches "dogmatic".
5. An explanation where no one can tell if the speaker agrees or disagrees is unclear and ambiguous, so "equivocal" is the right choice.

Answer:

1. endorse
2. eloquent
3. eradicate
4. dogmatic
5. equivocal