Sentence completion question?

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1

<p>I don't speak much english so this phrase sounds weird to me. If the phrase was, "The conclusion of his argument, while <em>_, is _</em><em>," would the blanks be opposites still? I was thinking that it was something like, "The conclusion of his argument, while interesting, is banal." I feel like the part "far from" should change the meaning to be a synonym, "The conclusion of his argument, while interesting, is far from interesting." That way, the far from makes the part after the second comma the opposite of interesting. Why do they still have to be opposites? "The conclusion of his argument, while interesting, is far from banal." Is that sentence just a fancy way of saying, "His conclusion was interesting and far from banal?" Is that what "while _</em><em>, is far from </em>" means? I'm just confused about the connotation. And is the answer from the book wrong?</p>

<ol>
<li>The conclusion of his argument, while ____ , is far from ____ .</li>
</ol>

<p>A. stimulating - interesting
B. worthwhile - valueless
C. esoteric - obscure
D. germane - relevant
E. abstruse - incomprehensible</p>

<p>Correct Answer: E</p>

<p>Explanation:</p>

<p>Clue: ‘far from’ indicates the need for an opposite.
So, while the conclusion is abstruse (obscure, difficult to comprehend), it is not totally incomprehensible.
(esoteric = obscure; germane = relevant)</p>

2

<p>“while” and “far from” both indicate the need for opposites. Hence, the answers in the blanks should be similar (imagine multiplying a number by negative 1 twice).</p>

3

<p>that’s what i thought but they said in the explanation that they must be opposites</p>

4

<p>The explanation is bad. The relationship is one of intensity–the second blank must be a more extreme version of the first blank.</p>

<p>EX:</p>

<p>Morton, while overweight, is far from obese.
Portland, while urban, is far from a metropolis.
Marvin, while hungry, is far from starving.</p>

5

<p>yeah, that’s what i was thinking</p>

<p>thanks for the input!</p>