Sentence Completion
When facts are ______ and data hard to come by, even scientists occasionally throw aside the professional pretense of ______ and tear into each other with shameless appeals to authority and arguments that are unabashedly ad hominem.

(A) He sacrificed the proven strategies of earlier black leaders to his craving for political novelty.
(B) Preferring conflict to harmony, he followed a disruptive course that alienated him from the bulk of his followers.
(C) He proved unable to change with the times in mounting fresh attacks against white racism.
(D) He relied on the fundamental benevolence of the white population for the eventual success of his movement.
(E) Once an adherent of Washington’s policies, he ultimately lost patience with them for their inefficacy.

(A) novel
(B) reliable
(C) specious
(D) inadequate
(E) academic