Fill in the blanks by selecting suitable words from the word bank. You may not use any of the words more than once.
J.
achieving K. adhered L. considered M. gorgeous N. absurd O. handsome I was once in a relationship with a woman who was the most brilliant, creative and driven person I'd ever known. I told her these things often because she didn't see herself this way, despite (1)________ great success and acclaim in her professional field. She was also (2)_________and sexy, though she seemed not to realize this either, so I told her these things too. But while I thought it was more important to praise her brilliance, it seemed to mean more to her that she was (3)___________ attractive. My experience with this girlfriend exemplifies a common phenomenon in life --- when it comes to complimenting a woman, men often walk a very difficult line. Of course, (4)___________ matters. In a professional setting, talking about appearance is often inappropriate, but at a singles club, it may be important. She will be very pleased if a man thinks her clothes and (5)__________ are pretty, or her hair looks wonderful. However, things in between these two cases are unclear. Women have every right to be recognized and (6)____________ for their intelligence and creativity. But at the same time, they want to be admired for their looks as well, for example, their perfect skin (7)___________ and elegant outfits. Unfortunately, most guys don't undertand this. If we receive compliments from women, they're usually about our achievements, not our looks. Most of us don't expect a woman to tell us how (8)__________ or sexy we are, and some of us would find it hard to regard such a(n) (9)_____________ as sincere. I'm not saying it's very hard to be a guy these days. It is important for every man to understand how to treat women with both respect and (10)___________. But as far as the right balance of these two is concerned, we really have no frame of reference, especially when it comes to looks.