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DAVE'S CORNER / Expanded collection

The Last Empty Gallery

A museum director tries to discover why her favorite room stays empty.

166 words with synonyms3 paragraphsAbout 1 minutesNot marked read

Original fiction in the expanded collection. Highlighted words are followed by synonyms. Alternate names and short contextual equivalents are labeled where used.

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PARAGRAPH 1

A glut of screens greeted every visitor. (glut: surplus, oversupply, surfeit) Their ubiquity had made the spoken welcome almost inaudible. (ubiquity: omnipresence, pervasiveness, widespread presence) Ads seemed omnipresent, cameras ubiquitous. (omnipresent: ubiquitous, ever-present, all-pervading; ubiquitous: omnipresent, pervasive, widespread) Amid such congestion, a small gallery of wooden figures lay empty. (congestion: overcrowding, crowding, blockage) The director suspected apathy about older art. (apathy: indifference, unconcern, disinterest)

PARAGRAPH 2

She asked an apparently apathetic visitor to help. (apathetic: indifferent, uninterested, unconcerned) He had wanted to see the gallery but had followed the brightest sign into the shop. An intrusive screen advertised reproductions; an obtrusive rack hid the actual door. (intrusive: meddlesome, interfering, invasive; obtrusive: intrusive, glaring, distracting) One could easily buy the figure and never see the original.

PARAGRAPH 3

She moved the rack and turned the screen toward the exit. By noon the room was busy. Her old complaint about consumerism sounded hollow beside the misplaced sign. (consumerism: materialism, acquisitiveness) She kept the sign in her office as a souvenir of the day she unwittingly solved her own complaint. (unwittingly: unknowingly, inadvertently, unintentionally)

Words and synonyms in this story

Listed in reading order. Select a paragraph number to revisit the sentence.

glut
surplus, oversupply, surfeit Paragraph 1
ubiquity
omnipresence, pervasiveness, widespread presence Paragraph 1
omnipresent
ubiquitous, ever-present, all-pervading Paragraph 1
ubiquitous
omnipresent, pervasive, widespread Paragraph 1
congestion
overcrowding, crowding, blockage Paragraph 1
apathy
indifference, unconcern, disinterest Paragraph 1
apathetic
indifferent, uninterested, unconcerned Paragraph 2
intrusive
meddlesome, interfering, invasive Paragraph 2
obtrusive
intrusive, glaring, distracting Paragraph 2
consumerism
materialism, acquisitiveness Paragraph 3
unwittingly
unknowingly, inadvertently, unintentionally Paragraph 3

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