Because she had mistakenly assumed that the disputes between the parties could be successfully ——-, the attorney had not prepared herself for the ——- of a long, drawn-out public trial.

A) mediated..eventuality

B) eased..probability

E) foreseen..inevitability

I understand why choice A is correct, but why are choice B and E incorrect?

E is the easier one to eliminate—”foreseen” doesn’t work there. It sounds like the disputes are already happening, so why assume now that you might be able to foresee them?

B is trickier, but it comes down to the fact that neither word is used perfectly. One might “ease” a dispute, but I’m not sure “ease” is the best word to use in that context. Much better to use something like “mediate,” or “resolve,” or something like that. “Probability” isn’t used well, either. You don’t really prepare yourself for a probability. You might recognize some probability of a bad outcome that you therefore prepare yourself for, but that’s not the same thing.

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