The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer to complete the sentence is egregious.
Explanation
The sentence requires an adjective that describes the severity of the vendor’s “quality-control failures” to justify the drastic action of finding a new supplier. The introductory word “Unfortunately” signals a negative context, and the consequence, being “forced to find a new supplier,” implies that the failures were not minor or ambiguous but were exceptionally serious.
The word egregious means outstandingly bad, shocking, or appalling. When used to describe failures, it conveys that they were remarkably and unacceptably poor. This fits the sentence’s logic perfectly. The vendor’s failures were so shockingly bad that the company had no other choice but to terminate the relationship and seek a replacement. The severity implied by “egregious” directly leads to the consequence described in the sentence.
Let’s examine why the other options are incorrect:
- Equivocal means ambiguous or open to more than one interpretation. If the failures were equivocal, it would be unclear how bad they were, making the decisive action of finding a new supplier less likely.
- Ebullient means cheerful and full of energy. This positive term makes no sense in the context of describing failures.
- Effulgent means shining brightly or radiant. Like ebullient, this is a positive word that is completely inappropriate for describing a negative event like a quality-control failure.
- Emotive means arousing intense feeling. While the situation might have been frustrating or upsetting, “emotive” describes the reaction something causes rather than its inherent quality. The sentence needs a word to describe the terrible nature of the failures themselves, not the feelings they provoked.
Therefore, egregious is the only word that accurately captures the extreme and negative quality of the failures, providing a logical reason for the company’s decision.
