From Oscar Wilde's essay *The Decay of Lying* (1891). Select the word that fits the blank. "Lying and poetry are arts — arts, as Pinto saw, not unconnected with each other — and they require the most careful study, the most ______ devotion."

Wilde is praising the *seriousness* with which lying-as-art should be approached: *most careful study*, and devotion of an equally elevated kind. The blank must describe a kind of devotion that is **selfless, free of personal stake or bias**. "Disinterested" — impartial, free from self-interest — is exactly that. **Note**: in careful English *disinterested* means *unbiased* (i.e., having no personal stake), **not** *bored / lacking interest*. The latter is *uninterested*. GRE Verbal regularly tests this distinction. - "Indifferent" and "casual" would describe *lack* of devotion — opposite of Wilde's point. - "Self-promoting" is the *opposite* of *disinterested* in its precise sense. Classical maxim: a judge should be *disinterested* (impartial) but not *uninterested* (bored or indifferent).