Here, I misunderstood the logic and thought that if both sides had to get a mediator (someone to solve things between them), then it signifies that the negotiations took a turn for the worse. So initially, things would have been smooth, and that’s why I chose ‘amicable’. Is my reasoning wrong or is it just a bad quality question?
I don’t think it’s a great question but there are things you can look for when you’re confused
Negotiations could either have been going well or going badly
The sentence structure suggest what comes after the comma should contrast what comes before
If getting a mediator is a good thing, then what comes before must be a bad thing.
At the same time, to confirm your answer when you’re looking into the options.
If you had gone with your logic, I’d question whether there’s a big enough difference in meaning between Collaborative and Amicable
That would point to the fact that we’re likely on the wrong side
I believe your reasoning is inaccurate here.
‘Although’ is a clear contrast word. The second part of the sentence is positive (They decided to get a mediator, which shows a willingness to find a middle ground). So the first part should be negative. If you pick amicable it will make it a positive which is not what we want. ‘contentious’ works the best here.
Hope this helps!