Ask why the decision is delayed
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
The organizer next tried to temporize by requesting another discussion mainly to gain time before choosing a title. A second member was reluctant to publish because he still disliked how both names described the group. Meanwhile, the chair began to waver in her support for the agreed deadline as she listened to increasingly anxious objections. These responses all slowed the decision, but they reflected different actions or attitudes: deliberate delay, unwillingness to proceed, and a commitment becoming less steady.
To temporize was a strategy for buying time, not simply a description of being unsure which title was best. The reluctant member could explain his unwillingness directly, giving the group a concern to address or weigh against other reasons. The chair would waver only if her position became less firm; listening carefully did not by itself mean abandoning the deadline. Once the members named the remaining concerns, they decided which needed an answer before publication and which could be resolved in later revisions.
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.