Question

select the word that means emphasize.
during political campaigns, many candidates use advertisements that discuss what’s wrong with their opponents. however, university of missouri professor bill benoit has recommended that candidates avoid attacking their opponents characters. his research suggests that attack ads can backfire in dramatic ways. benoit instead recommends that politicians accentuate the positive in their advertisements.

Explanation:

To find the word meaning "emphasize", we analyze the context. The passage says Benoit recommends politicians "accentuate the positive" instead of using attack ads. "Accentuate" here is used to mean highlighting or emphasizing the positive aspects, so "accentuate" is the word that means emphasize.

Answer:

accentuate