Give unfamiliar ideas a fair examination
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
A new volunteer proposed replacing the club's long lectures with short demonstrations, and the organizer remained receptive despite enjoying the existing format. To be fair-minded, she asked both supporters and critics to explain how their preferred approach would serve beginners. She also protected the panel's impartiality by using the same evaluation questions for proposals from friends and strangers. The discussion therefore considered the new idea's practical strengths without assuming that novelty, seniority, or personal familiarity made an argument better.
Being receptive did not require the organizer to accept every suggestion; it required a willingness to hear and consider them. Her fair-minded review included a difficulty the new volunteer had acknowledged, namely the extra preparation demonstrations would require. The panel's impartiality became visible when it asked the organizer's closest colleague for the same evidence it requested from everyone else. Members eventually chose a mixed program, supported by reasons that other participants could examine rather than by loyalty to a particular speaker.
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.