Values have to reach the decision
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
The workshop's chair objected to the coordinator's hypocrisy: he had repeatedly praised transparency while concealing the conflicting promises. She considered his demand that volunteers pay an undisclosed penalty to recover their own equipment unconscionable. Such an unprincipled response would add another wrong to the original deception. The committee rejected the demand and arranged for both groups to collect their property.
At the next meeting, the chair warned against answering hypocrisy with another unprincipled shortcut. The committee needed to review the records and hear from everyone affected, even while correcting the immediate problem. It rescinded the unconscionable penalty demand and recorded the decision openly. Its stated commitment to fairness would matter only if the way it handled the dispute reflected that commitment.
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.