Each sentence below has two blanks. Choose the pair that best fits both. The committee’s report was criticized for being too ________ in tone, offering little ________ analysis of why the policy had failed.

A. technical, speculative → “Too technical” means too full of jargon; “little speculative analysis” would mean not much guesswork. That doesn’t really fit — being “too technical” isn’t the same as lacking insight.  B. descriptive, diagnostic → “Too descriptive” = focuses only on describing, not explaining. → “Little diagnostic analysis” = little effort to examine causes. This fits perfectly.  C. prescriptive, empirical → “Prescriptive” = telling what should be done. “Little empirical analysis” = little data-based work That’s a mismatch — being too prescriptive wouldn’t mean lacking diagnostic depth.  D. assertive, interpretive → “Too assertive” = overly forceful in opinions; “little interpretive analysis” = not much interpretation. Doesn’t flow logically — criticism wouldn’t usually be about assertiveness here.  E. superficial, analytical → “too superficial” fits the tone but “little analytical analysis” would be redundant and illogical (since analytical and analysis overlap).