Section: Critical Reading Section 2

107) The chairman ____ the decision of the board members, describing it as a ____ of every worthy ideal that the organization had hitherto upheld.

1. defended . . denial
2. lamented. . negation
3. criticized. . fulfillment
4. endorsed . . renunciation
5. applauded . . repudiation

Notice the word hitherto in this sentence. It means previously. The board members had previously upheld worthy ideals. This implies that they no longer do. For the second blank, then, we need a word like rejection: the board’s recent decision must be a rejection of the previous worthy ideals. In the first blank, we need a word to describe what the chairman was doing as he described the board’s decision so negatively. So the first blank must mean something like criticized.

To lament is to regret, while a negation is what it sounds like, a rejection.