From Edward Gibbon's *Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire* (1776). Select the word that fits the blank. "It was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of ______ into the public councils."
Aconfusion
Brevenge
Cexcess
Dmoderation
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. moderation
Augustus is *relinquishing the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth* — turning away from imperial overreach. The replacement spirit must therefore be **restrained**. "Moderation" fits exactly.
- "Excess" reverses the meaning.
- "Revenge" introduces an unrelated theme.
- "Confusion" doesn't match the deliberate policy turn.
Related questions
An argument states 'the village bus service is unreliable, so it should be banned'. The unA 'strengthen' CR question asks which option, if true, would:In a GMAT Critical Reasoning question, the FIRST step to take is:In formal GMAT register, which idiom is correct? 'Her findings are _____ those of the earlWhich uses correct parallel structure? 'On weekends she enjoys _____.'Choose the option with correct subject-verb agreement: 'The collection of old coins _____ On GMAT Sentence Correction, the recommended elimination strategy is to:In a GMAT Sentence Correction question, option (A) ALWAYS represents: