Mar 5, 2009 Volume 5 -- Daily Life in China, #13(40)

lintelleUID: 2297267

1. The very great number of candidates for the examinations is a clear proof of the wide ___ of education at that period.
2. A system of recommendation which, in theory, was designed to discover hidden talent by ensuring rapid promotion for _____ but worthy officials had been _____ from its purpose.
3. Corruption got worse from day to day, not only at the level of the ____ employees recruited locally, among whom it had always been _____, but even in the highest administrative grades.

A) petty
B) diverted
C) diffusion
D) rife
E) obscure

answer
A) petty
B) diverted
C) diffusion
D) rife
E) obscure

petty:
1 of little importance; trivial
• (of behavior) characterized by an undue concern for trivial matters, esp. in a small-minded or spiteful way
2 [ attrib. ] of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor
• Law (of a crime) of lesser importance

divert:
1 cause (someone or something) to change course or turn from one direction to another
• [ intrans. ] (of a vehicle or person) change course
• reallocate (something, esp. money or resources) to a different purpose
2 distract (someone or their attention) from something
• [usu. as adj. ] ( diverting) draw the attention of (someone) away from tedious or serious concerns; entertain or amuse

diffuse:
verb |diˈfyoōz|
spread or cause to spread over a wide area or among a large number of people
• become or cause (a fluid, gas, individual atom, etc.) to become intermingled with a substance by movement, typically in a specified direction or at specified speed
[ trans. ] cause (light) to glow faintly by dispersing it in many directions.

adjective |diˈfyoōs| |dəˈfjus| |dɪˈfjuːs|
spread out over a large area; not concentrated
• (of disease) not localized in the body
• lacking clarity or conciseness

rife:
(esp. of something undesirable or harmful) of common occurrence; widespread
• ( rife with) full of

obscure:
adjective ( -scurer , -scurest )
not discovered or known about; uncertain
• not clearly expressed or easily understood
• not important or well known
• hard to make out or define; vague
(of a color) not sharply defined; dim or dingy.

verb [ trans. ]
keep from being seen; conceal
• make unclear and difficult to understand
• overshadow