Before making a final decision, the committee chose to (consider carefully)
for hours. Their first draft was still (vague, unformed)
and full of gaps, but over several (successive)
meetings, the team managed to (absorb, take in)
new evidence. One editor inserted a dramatic (pause)
into the speech for effect, but a critic called the gesture (foolish, extremely stupid)
. Rumors of political (dishonesty, double-dealing)
soon began to (attack verbally)
the candidate’s reputation, though some suspected the evidence itself was merely (craftiness, trickery)
. In the end, the scandal proved (lasting a very short time)
, fading almost as quickly as it arose.