A word that fills in the blank well is sarcastic Sarcasm is a type of irony, called verbal irony, that makes statements about a character that are obviously not true, and are included to add humor to the novel.
Answer:
I cant help if there is no passage to read. I wont understand the question.
Considering the passage's content, the most likely reason the author mentions problems in the publishing industry in a paragraph is to let the reader know that "<u>there is still opportunity in the publishing industry despite current problems."</u>
Here, the author is trying to let the reader knows that currently, there are problems that need to be solved in the publishing industry. However, despite these problems, there is abundant opportunity in the publishing industry.
This was revealed when the author said that "<em><u>Despite reports to the contrary, this is a great time to be in publishing</u></em>."
Hence, in this case, it is concluded that the correct answer is "<u>there is still opportunity in the publishing industry despite current problems."</u>
Learn more about Passage reading here: brainly.com/question/16835380