Question

His neighbor's 'superficial' remarks trivialized their argument over the line separating their properties and infuriated Winston.

Answer 1

I have looked this question up. It is about vocabulary. We should choose the best meaning for "superficial". The complete question is the following:

His neighbor's "superficial" remarks trivialized their argument over the line separating their properties and infuriated Winston.

A. enraged

B. insulting

C. petty

D. misleading

Answer:

The best option for the meaning of "superficial" as used in the sentence is:

C. petty

Explanation:

If we qualify something as being superficial, we mean it lacks depth. Thus, a superficial remark is a shallow, unimportant statement. In that sense, we can practically say that "superficial" and "petty" have the same meaning. "Petty" refers to something small, unimportant, insignificant. In the sentence we are analyzing here, someone's silly, unimportant remarks made someone else angry because they (the remarks) made the argument seem trivial.