Question

Increasingly, the boundaries of congressional seats are drawn in order to protect incumbents, as legislators engineer the demographics of each district such that those already in office can coast to (i)____________ victory. Of course, there is always the possibility that the incumbent will face a challenge from within his or her own party. Nevertheless, once the primary is over, the general election is (ii)____________ . Blank (i) a. an ineluctable b. an invidious c. a plangent Blank (ii) a. seldom nugatory b. remarkably contentious c. merely denouement

Short answer

The correct choices for the blanks are: (i) an ineluctable (ii) merely denouement

Step-by-step solution

Understanding the context

In this sentence, the blanks refer to the assured victory of incumbents due to the gerrymandering of district boundaries. This suggests that whatever the option chosen for blank (i) must describe a certain victory and whatever is chosen for blank (ii) needs to show that the general election is more of a formality or concluding event rather than a real contest.

Analysis Of Options For Blank (i)

Looking at the options: 'ineluctable' means inevitable, 'invidious' refers to something that provokes envy, 'plangent' means loud or resonating. Based on the context, the most fitting word to describe a definitive victory would be 'ineluctable'.

Analysis Of Options For Blank (ii)

'Nugatory' means of no value or trivial, 'contentious' means controversial or disputed, 'denouement' is a term used to describe the final resolution of a story. Given the context of the sentence, the general election is presented as a formality or a conclusion to an already assured victory, hence the most fitting word would be 'denouement'.