The novel’s protagonist, a pearl diver, naïvely expects that the buyers will compete among themselves to pay him the best price for his pearl, but instead they ——- to ——- him.
| (A) | venture . . reward | |
| (B) | pretend . . praise | |
| (C) | conspire . . reimburse | |
| (D) | refuse . . cheat | |
| (E) | collude . . swindle |
If the diver’s expectation that the buyers will offer the best price is characterized as “naïve,” then we are to assume that the diver is too trusting about their good will. They are actually, contrary to the diver’s expectations, going to try to rip him off. The first word will have to have something to do with them working together in a negative way; the second word will have to be about their cheating him out of the true worth of the pearls. The only choice that satisfies this requirement is (E). The answer is (E).
source: collegeboard.com
