Photo retouching and inflated claims are so well concealed in most advertising campaigns that consumers are unaware of the ................ being employed.
Some of the answer choices are fairly difficult words, but you can tell from the key word “concealed” that you want a word negative in tone. Based on that, two words pop out from the answer choices, (B) artifice and (D) chicanery, both of which are negative and both of which mean “deception.” But you should go through the answer choices one at a time to confirm your selections. Choice (A) cabal means “a secret group,” and it doesn’t work in context. Choice (B) artifice sounds a lot like a word you’re probably familiar with —“artificial,” which means looking like one thing while actually being another. Artifice means “trickery.” “Photo retouching and inflated claims” are forms of trickery, so this is one of the correct answers. If you don’t know the meaning of the word hegemony (C), put it aside until you go through the other answer choices. Choice (E) dominance means “supremacy” or “domination,” and it doesn’t make sense in context. Eliminate it. Choice (D) chicanery also means “deception and trickery,” so it’s also correct. To determine the meaning of imprecation, choice (F), think of a word with a similar root. One is “precarious,” which means “dangerous.” Are advertising ploys dangerous? No. This word is too extreme to work in context. That leaves you with only hegemony outstanding. Even if its meaning is unclear, you have, through the process of elimination, two synonymous answer choices that fit well in context, and you should go with them. Hegemony means “influence” or “dominance.” If you knew this definition, you’d know that hegemony is a synonym for another answer choice, dominance, and this is another example of a question with two sets of synonyms in the answer choices.