Read the sentence, looking for clues
The blanks both describe people who are "self-serving" rather than serving the
interests of the prince regent. They say nice things about him when he is around,
but they "undercut" his edicts and engage in "clandestine meetings," so they are
acting against his interests in less obvious and even secret ways.
Predict the answer
There is more than one of these "self-serving" folks pestering the prince, and
they are in league with each other, as they are "acting in concert." The right
answer will be a noun that means "a closely knit group."
The second blank will be something that means "people who are only interested in
their own well-being."
Select the answer choices that most closely match
your predictions
(A) coterie, "a tightly bound group of people working for a common
goal," matches the prediction and is the first correct answer. (B) largesse, or "generosity with finances," and
(C) celerity, or "rapidity in motion or
action," are both incorrect because neither describes a group of people.
(E) sycophants means "flatterers" and describes people who feign
friendship and aid to achieve their own purposes. This is the second correct answer.
(D) philanthropist means "humanitarian,"
which is much too positive to fit. (F) recidivists means "people who return to bad behavior"; while the
word for blank (ii) does describe ill-behaved people, there is no indication in the
sentence that there has been previous bad behavior, followed by improvement,
followed by a relapse to the earlier bad behavior.
Check your answer
The play's protagonist is a young prince regent whose capacity to govern his realm
justly and competently is hindered by a coterie of self-serving sycophants who act in concert, praising him to his face but all the
while undercutting his edicts and maligning his intentions in clandestine meetings
with other members of his court.
TAKEAWAY: It's sometimes enough to predict that a word is positive or negative,
but if more than one choice fits, select the answer that fits all the clues in the
sentence.
