Solution
The overall tone of the passage is clearly complimentary. To understand what the author of the book is being complimented on, it is useful to focus on the second blank. Here, we must determine what word would indicate something that the author is praised for not permitting. The only answer choice that fits the case is "obscure," since enhancing and underscoring are generally good things to do, not things one should refrain from doing. Choosing
"obscure" clarifies the choice for the first blank; the only choice that fits well with "obscure" is
"overshadowed." Notice that trying to fill blank (i) without filling blank (ii) first is hard — each choice has at least some initial plausibility. Since the third blank requires a phrase that matches "enormous gaps" and "sparseness of our observations," the best choice is "
superficiality of our theories."Thus the correct answer is
Choice A (overshadowed), Choice E (obscure) and Choice I (superficiality of our theories).
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59% (00:57) correct
