Okay, so I don’t get how the answer is B. Greg, in one of his videos, uses the math strategy, saying that the left side (+), middle = far from, the right side must be (-) negative. Therefore the answer is B. Now,
What I do not understand here is that before the “but” (skeptical) is negative, after the “but” the sentence says “enlightened intellectual” so doesn’t this mean the rest needs to support the idea of enlightened intellectual?
Far from viewing Jefferson as a skeptical but
enlightened intellectual, historians of the 1960’s
portrayed him as ----- thinker, eager to fill the
young with his political orthodoxy while censor-
ing ideas he did not like.
(A) an adventurous (B) a doctrinaire
(C) an eclectic (D) a judicious
(E) a cynical
He is slow but very efficient : the crux He is smart +++ , you cant say he is dumb
He is hardworking but fussy. the crux he is fussy — , you still cant say he is good
the but part dominates the overall context in above sentence.
same in example but is setting contrast for skeptical & intellectual , this is not the marker which is setting contrast between first phrase and the clause afterward. its the ‘far from’ which is doing that.
Far from being intelligent , He is dumb
Far from being intellectual, he is not intellectual. so most negative word are B & E but cynical is like hating people that cant go well with being intellectual opposite however , I picked the spot (,) followed after —thinker so its basically talking about what kind of thinker was he? so he was one pushing orthodoxy so he was doctrinaire . this way i was exactly at B
but any way hope i clear your doubt. But is seeting contrast between the words , not helpful for blank. Far from is helpful for filling the blank