The reward will be commensurate with the effort. (commensurate: proportionate, corresponding, equivalent in degree)
The stationmaster received carte blanche to improve a railway that carried visitors around a circular garden. (carte blanche: free rein, unrestricted authority, a free hand) He issued a categorical promise that the new service would arrive exactly where it was supposed to arrive. (categorical: absolute, unconditional, unqualified) That assurance seemed credible until a passenger asked why every ticket listed the same station as both departure and destination. (credible: believable, plausible, trustworthy) The stationmaster's convoluted explanation required two blackboards and still left the question of lunch unresolved. (convoluted: complicated, intricate, tangled)
His assistant proposed a cessation of announcements while the crew examined the actual track and its three unused platforms. (cessation: stop, halt, ending) The platforms could coalesce into one useful boarding area if the decorative fences between them were removed. (coalesce: combine, unite, merge) A colloquial notice reading Wait here proved more helpful than the stationmaster's paragraph about passenger positioning. (colloquial: informal, conversational, everyday) The visitors reached a consensus that the train should stop long enough for people to get on it. (consensus: agreement, general accord, shared understanding)
A cursory count showed enough seats, but a closer examination found that six of them were occupied by flowerpots. (cursory: hasty, superficial, perfunctory) The gardener offered a concomitant improvement: move the pots to the empty platforms and let the passengers see them through the windows. (concomitant: accompanying, associated, attendant) The stationmaster considered this an intriguing idea because it made use of an inconvenience without pretending the inconvenience was an achievement. (intriguing: interesting, fascinating, absorbing) A child asked whether the train might circumvent the broken gate by taking the other side of the loop. (circumvent: bypass, go around, avoid)
The engineer agreed to confer with the gardener before moving anything larger than a sign. (confer: consult, discuss, deliberate) Their cordial discussion lasted five minutes, considerably less than the explanation of why discussions usually took too long. (cordial: warm, friendly, gracious) They could consolidate the tools in one shed and keep the station free of unnecessary obstacles. (consolidate: combine, unify, bring together) A contingency remained: heavy rain might require the open carriages to stay beneath the shelter. (contingency: eventuality, possibility, potential occurrence)
An implausible rumor suggested that the circular track had been designed to prevent passengers from ever leaving the garden. (implausible: unbelievable, improbable, unconvincing) The gardener could refute that claim simply by opening the gate beside the tea stall and walking outside. (refute: disprove, rebut, show to be false) The stationmaster was cognizant that an entertaining rumor could still confuse visitors who had never seen the layout. (cognizant: aware, conscious, mindful) His revised announcement offered a concise explanation of the route before mentioning the decorative history of the carriages. (concise: brief, succinct, terse)
A callow helper accidentally placed the departure notice at the exit and the exit notice inside the ticket drawer. (callow: immature, inexperienced, unseasoned) The assistant gave a cordial correction that explained why the locations mattered without treating the mistake as a permanent defect of character. (cordial: friendly, gracious, warm) The helper soon displayed composure when a visitor asked a question he could not immediately answer. (composure: calmness, self-possession, poise) Rather than invent an authoritative explanation, he asked the gardener and then showed the visitor the correct path. (authoritative: definitive, commanding, officially reliable)
The crew's cohesion improved because an uncertain worker could ask for help before a small confusion spread to everyone waiting. (cohesion: unity, togetherness, solidarity) The stationmaster began to concede that a useful service was not diminished when its employees used ordinary, understandable words. (concede: acknowledge, admit, grant) The revised configuration put tickets, boarding, and refreshments in an order visitors could follow without consulting a diagram. (configuration: arrangement, layout, organization) The railway's modest ambition was finally an advantage: it could do a small thing well instead of pretending to accomplish an impossible journey. (modest: limited, restrained, unpretentious)
The stationmaster finally recognized the crux of the matter: a circular journey could still be enjoyable if it offered something worth seeing. (crux: central point, essential issue, heart) The new route provided a captivating view of the garden without claiming to cross a mountain range. (captivating: engaging, enchanting, fascinating) Its culmination was a stop beside the tea stall, where visitors could leave the train without solving a puzzle. (culmination: high point, climax, crowning moment) The crew's reward was commensurate with the effort: a modest railway that worked better and an announcement short enough to hear twice. (commensurate: proportionate, corresponding, matching in degree)