Three ways a conversation can go wrong
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Later, a committee member wrote a sycophantic introduction that lavishly praised the donor's taste in hopes of gaining personal favor. During rehearsal, he became patronizing toward a capable designer, explaining simple tasks as though she could not understand her own work. He also made a presumptuous promise that the gallery next door would lend its largest room, although its manager had given him no authority to offer it. Daria asked him to revise the introduction, address the designer as a colleague, and check the room's availability.
The designer could distinguish the member's sycophantic praise from his patronizing manner because the first sought favor from someone influential, while the second treated her as inferior. The presumptuous promise created a separate problem: the exhibition plan now depended on space he had no right to commit. Daria removed that assumption from the schedule while the member contacted the neighboring gallery with a request. The meeting could then proceed with a more accurate account of what was available and who could decide how to use it.
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.