1. Elinor ____ to counteract her negative feelings, but only succeeded in ____ them.
A. tried - allaying
B. hoped - mitigating
C. desired - ameliorating
D. hesitated - deprecating
E. endeavoured - intensifying
2. She was roundly condemned for her ____ ; she betrayed the woman to whom she owed her success.
A. truculence
B. perfidy
C. serendipity
D. pragmatism
E. discernment
3. The progress of the disease is ____ ; it spreads stealthily without any symptoms in the early stages.
A. dramatic
B. acute
C. blatant
D. insidious
E. inexorable