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From Edward Gibbon's *Decline and Fall* (1776). Select the word that fits the blank. "The heat of the climate soon repelled the invaders, and protected the un-warlike natives of those ______ regions."

Aaccessible
Bsequestered
Cfortified
Dpopulous
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. sequestered
Gibbon characterises the natives as *un-warlike* and the regions as ones that climate alone could *protect*. The blank should reinforce *remote, isolated, hard to reach*. "Sequestered" (set apart, isolated) fits exactly. - "Populous" describes density, not isolation. - "Accessible" reverses the meaning. - "Fortified" implies built defences; Gibbon's claim is that climate *alone* provided the defence — no fortification needed. Latin *sequestrare* = to set aside; *sequestered* preserves the *set apart* sense.
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