Help me out, please

Question

The fact that the ___ of confrontation is no longer as popular as it once was ___ progress in race relations.     A. insidiousness … reiterates   B. practice … inculcates   C. glimmer … foreshadows   D. technique … presages   E. reticence … indicates  Any information implied in the sentence would only make D right? Thank you so much!

Jeff_999 · Accepted Answer

I think I got this one. Confrontation is no longer popular. That means we will see the progress in race relations.

But what does "technique of confrontation" mean?

Nona the brit · Answer

After a bit of thought I think perhaps

Direct aggressive confrontation is not now considered the best way to deal with racism, subtler ways are more effective. The technique of confrontation - using confrontion deliberately to challenge racism.

Jeff_999 · Answer

Thanks NTB. But what do you mean by "I think perhaps"?

Nona the brit · Answer

I meant I am not sure about my interpretation.

Wwwdotcom · Answer

I don't use the above words in everyday conversation, so to better evaluate the sentence I'll add an F.

F. use...shows

From that, B and D are the closest I think to the first word.
E and D are the closest I think to the second word.

As far as an answer, D would match F the best. However, I don't think techniques are something we question. Techniques are skills learned. Practices can be the occurence of some skill or ability (like with doctors and lawyers). You generally go to a school of one to learn A practice, not practices. You go to learn techniques, NOT just one technique.

If the sentence is to mean there are multiple ways to address race relations, and some kind of confrontation can be used, then I would treat it as an individual kind (a practice). The fact that the practice of confrontation is no longer as popular as it once was presages progress in race relations. The fact that techniques of confrontation are no longer as popular as they once were presages progress in race relations. The second sentence sounds strange to me.

To say "the technique of confrontation" means there is only 1, and I disagree with that notion. Using "presages" instead of "indicates" seems like a matter of word choice, and since many people may not have presage in their wordbank, "indicates" might be used more often.

Jeff_999 · Answer

Thank you Wwwdotcom. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> I got your point.

Help me out, please

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