Explanation

The sentence is explaining why the exhibition of the painter’s work was unsatisfactory, and since it says that the painter’s talents were real, the word in the blank has to indicate why those talents were not, in the opinion of the author of the sentence, good enough. The words “limited” and “circumscribed” do so and also produce sentences that are alike in meaning, so this pair forms the correct answer.

Although “undiscovered” and “hidden” are similar in meaning, they do not make sense in the context of the sentence, since they do not indicate why the painter’s talents were not adequate. Other choices, such as “partial” and “prosaic” might make sense in context, but none of the other choices that meets that criterion also has a companion choice that would produce another sentence alike in meaning.

Thus the correct answer is limited (Choice A) and circumscribed (Choice D).
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Sandy
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