What helps, and how much?
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
The club took steps to mitigate the disruption by clarifying the rules and offering a new question period. Refreshments might palliate the frustration during a long meeting, but they would not resolve the dispute. A proposed reminder about the deadline was innocuous on its own; the coordinator checked its wording anyway because members were now reading every announcement with unusual suspicion.
A friendly speech could palliate some of the tension without answering the underlying question. To mitigate the broader problem, the organizers needed both a direct explanation and a clearer process for future queries. The deadline reminder remained innocuous after that review. It stated the date plainly, contained no new requirement, and did not make any claim about the fairness of past decisions.
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.