Calm can have different meanings
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The director of a student comedy could be mercurial, praising a scene enthusiastically and then becoming impatient with it a few minutes later. Jules, the phlegmatic stage manager, kept an even tone while checking the rehearsal schedule. An actor's nonchalance looked equally calm, but it was harder to interpret: she leaned back and smiled while waiting for her cue. Jules asked whether she had a question instead of deciding from her relaxed appearance that she had not prepared.
When a prop went missing, the director's mercurial reaction moved quickly from irritation to amusement after someone found it behind a chair. Jules remained phlegmatic through both changes and quietly restored the rehearsal order. The actor's nonchalance also persisted, although her accurate entrance soon showed that she had followed the scene closely. The group could observe several kinds of calm behavior without assuming that each person felt the same concern or approached the work in the same way.
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.