Read the sentence, looking for clues
In this sentence, it might be better to attack the second blank first, because it
requires an adjective describing the subject's personality and the description of
his personality is clearly described in the rest of the sentence: he's trustworthy
in spite of his "checkered past" because he lacks the ability to deceive. The
narrator's assertion that "we knew we could trust him" indicates that the first
blank must be consistent with the subject's open nature,
Predict the answer
For the first blank, predict an answer that means "open" or "honest" in
personality. The second will be a straight-ahead roadsign that means something like
"because."
Select the answer choices that most closely match
your predictions
Although (D) artless can mean "lacking skill or knowledge,"
which wouldn't fit, it can also mean "honest" or "free from deceit," so it's the
right answer for the second blank. If you didn't know that definition, you could
have gotten to the right answer by eliminating the others. An (E) affected personality would be one that is not
genuine, and a (F) guileful personality
is a "deceitful" one. Since both have meanings relating to deception or
artificiality, they'r the opposite of what's needed.
(B) light in the phrase "in light of" means "due to" or "because of" and
matches the prediction. (A) defense
suggests that there is a critique of the subject's personality, and this is not
supported by the sentence. (C) lieu
means "instead" or "in place," which is the opposite of the prediction.
Check your answer
In light of his artless personality, we knew we could trust
him; regardless of his daunting appearance and checkered past, deceit was simply not
a part of his character.
TAKEAWAY: When a choice has more than one possible meaning, it's right if only one
of those meanings fits the sentence.
