Question

The sentence below has one or two blanks, the blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the word or set of words for the blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
Their air of cheerful self-sacrifice and endless complaisance won them undeserved praise, for their seeming gallantry was wholly motivated by a_______________wish to avoid conflict of any sorts.

Options

• putative

• laudable

• craven

• poignant

Answer 1

craven
Putative = assumed, laudable = praiseworthy, craven = lacking courage, poignant = sense of sadness or regret. Since the praise they received is undeserved, so 'craven' best fits the given context.