Choosing a measured response
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
During the review, a volunteer found online comments attacking the entrants' families. She considered that behavior reprehensible, even though the contest itself deserved careful scrutiny. It took fortitude to ask her own friends to remove their insulting posts. She urged temperance in the discussion: people could criticize a decision or an action without turning their anger toward uninvolved relatives.
The volunteer's friends initially accused her of ignoring the copied work. She showed fortitude by restating both concerns: misrepresentation was wrong, and the personal attacks were reprehensible too. Temperance did not require silence or approval. It meant responding with restraint, checking what was known, and keeping criticism directed at the conduct that the panel had actually reviewed.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.