Verbal Technique- How can I make this better?

GRE Verbal Problem Solving
1

Hi everyone,
2 things:

  1. I was able to work around the 2nd blank here (2nd blank being supported by 'by his refusal…" which is actually a negative thing) so I ascertained that the 2nd blank needs to be something negative (thereby eliminating B,D & E). However I wasn’t able to derive any connotation for blank 1 and hence as last resort I chose to plug in from the options itself and chose A. (Correct answer being C)

What did I miss?

Problem 1
Problem 11716×784 124 KB

  1. How can anyone infer (upfront) that the first blank needs to be negative here?

I understand the ‘not wishing to appear’ already provides us with a negation and hence in case I want to keep the idea positive, the blank needs to be negative and vice versa.

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2

For the first one, the core skill is getting meaning from a PHRASE not just a WORD. The phrase “refusal to compromise” is what informs the first blank.

The second blank isn’t supported by “his refusal”. “Betrays” is not negative. Again, you have to use the complete meaning of everything after the blank. “Betrayed” is logical since it makes sense that his refusal to compromise shows, or betrays, his rigidity.

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