请教两个填空题

PP0211UID: 3305612

1. Johnson never ____ to ignore the standards of decent conduct mandated by company policy if _____   compliance with instructions from his superiors enabled him to do so, whatever the effects on his subordinates.

attempted       tacit
scrupled          perfunctory
wished            literal

答案是scruple, literal ,  不懂。。。这里的literal当什么讲呢，好想不太明白句子说什么。。。

2.  To have true disciples, a thinker must not be too ____; any effective intellectual leader depends on the ability of other people to ____ thought processes that did not originate with them.

methodical     stimulate
idiosyncratic   dismiss
self-confident   reenact

答案是idiosyncratic, reenact,   不明白。。。

谢谢各位！

shuaimanUID: 3262649

第一题：从“whatever the effects on his subordinates”，显然看出Johnson是一个“爱谁谁，反正我就是不服”的状态，      never scruple就是肆无忌惮，十分明显。
第二空“literal compliance”应该就是“唯命是从”的状态。tacit和perfunctory词义此处不通。

第二题：true disciples是褒义，第1空显然是贬义，只有idiosyncratic合适。
            第2空的确有点难，最后的them是指other people，
            did not originate with them就是让other people“复述”leader的话，正好呼应 disciples 词义，只有reenact由此含义。

lifeadreamUID: 3023653

正想问them指代什么，感谢！
ps.可否请教一个纯语法问题：前面如果是any leader, 后面可以用复数形式替代它么？