“The judge’s standing in the legal community, though shaken by false allegations of wrongdoing, remained _________.”
The word that best fills the blank in the above sentence is:
Options:
(A) undiminished
(B) damaged
(C) illegal
(D) uncertain
Official Answer Key:
A
Step-by-Step Solution & Explanation
### **Detailed Step-by-Step Solution (GATE AE 2018 Q.2)**
**1. Intuitive Physical Setup & Given Parameters**:
- **Sentence Contrast Indicator**: The conjunction "though" introduces a contrast between the attempt to harm ("shaken by false allegations") and the final state of the judge's standing.
**2. Step-by-Step Grammatical & Semantic Derivation**:
1. **Concession and Contrast**:
The clause "though shaken by false allegations of wrongdoing" indicates that an adverse event occurred, but the main clause asserts that the standing survived intact.
2. **Selecting the Constrasting Adjective**:
- Shaken vs. intact / not lessened.
- "Undiminished" means not reduced or lessened in quality, value, or reputation.
- Therefore, the judge's standing remained *undiminished*.
**3. Comprehensive Options & Distractor Analysis**:
- **(A)** *undiminished*: ✅ **CORRECT**. Accurately satisfies the contrastive logic introduced by "though".
- **(B)** *damaged*: ❌ Incorrect. Matches the adversity rather than contrasting with it.
- **(C)** *illegal*: ❌ Incorrect. Grammatically and semantically nonsensical describing standing.
- **(D)** *uncertain*: ❌ Incorrect. Does not provide the required positive contrast to false allegations.
**4. Official Master Key & Exam Takeaway**:
- **Official Answer**: **A**
- **Exam Rule**: In sentence completion with concessive conjunctions (*although, though, despite*), the blank must contrast with the concessive clause.