Promises for every audience
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
An insincere candidate for a student committee praised a project she privately intended to cancel, hoping its supporters would vote for her. The candidate's two-facedness became evident when she assured one group that she fully supported the project and told another that she had always opposed it. Another candidate's posturing involved dramatic declarations of independence while privately asking powerful members which opinions would impress them. A student reporter began comparing public statements with the plans each candidate had actually prepared.
The insincere praise mattered because it expressed approval the candidate did not honestly feel, rather than a genuine opinion that later changed for stated reasons. The two-facedness lay in presenting conflicting attitudes to different audiences to win their support. The other candidate's posturing created an artificial appearance of independence without showing how any independent decision had been made. The reporter asked both candidates for concrete commitments that members could examine after the speeches ended.
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.