Çözüldü Sentence Completion - Vocabulary

Although the judge seemed ______ at first, by the time the trial ended, the jurors decided he was merely ________.

A) officious ... lavish
B) loquacious ... histrionic
C) brusque ... taciturn
D) ostentatious ... despotic
E) illicit ... capricious

Correct Choice: C

Official Explanation:
The word “although” may sometimes be a hint that you will be looking for opposites; however, in this case, you will notice there are no pairs of opposites in the choices. So you know you’ll be looking for contrast of a different kind.
You can quickly rule out choices A and E because “lavish” and “illicit” couldn’t possibly fit. Read option B in context; the word “merely” rules it out: no judge would be “merely histrionic.” Choice D does not make sense because ostentatious (showy) and despotic (acting like a tyrant) don’t fit the “although this, really that” logic.
Choice C is correct: “Although the judge seemed brusque (blunt or abrupt) at first, by the time the trial ended, the jurors decided he was merely taciturn (quiet; not talking much).

SAT Exam Secrets Study Guide
https://en.ru1lib.org/book/19102017/252df9
Page 2 (10 in the pdf file)