Name the reaction without enlarging the event
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
Several craft-fair vendors came to detest a shrill advertising jingle that played repeatedly beside their stalls throughout the morning. A fictional vendor said she could despise a promoter who mocked beginners while profiting from their entry fees, expressing contempt rather than a mere difference in musical taste. A brouhaha over the mascot's newly purple tail then filled the planning room with excited complaints and competing demands. The organizer asked the group to separate reactions to an unpleasant sound, a judgment about conduct, and the noisy fuss surrounding a small design decision.
To detest the jingle was to dislike it intensely, but the vendors did not need to claim that everyone shared their reaction. To despise the promoter conveyed a stronger element of contempt toward the described treatment of beginners. The brouhaha about the mascot grew when participants repeated objections without agreeing which practical decision needed attention. The organizer lowered the sound, invited a separate discussion of entry practices, and asked for one clear proposal about the tail, giving each concern a form the group could actually examine.
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.