Each sentence has two blanks. Choose the pair that fits best. The economist’s lecture was so ________ in reasoning yet so ________ in delivery that even sceptical listeners found themselves reconsidering entrenched positions.

“Rigorous reasoning” + “lucid delivery” — precise academic phrasing. pedantic — overly concerned with minor details or rules; nit-picky obscure — unclear, difficult to understand rigorous — extremely thorough, accurate, logically strict lucid — clear, easy to understand shallow — lacking depth or substance; superficial eloquent — fluent, expressive, and persuasive in speech speculative — based on guesswork rather than solid evidence erratic — unpredictable, inconsistent, irregular verbose — using more words than necessary; wordy persuasive — able to convince or influence others