English Grammar - Sentence Completion: 11 MCQs with Answers

The sentence concedes that the rebuttal was eloquent but says it 'failed to ___ the central issue'. The natural completion is 'address', meaning to deal with or attend to a matter directly. The contrast signalled by 'though eloquent' demands a verb of genuine engagement, since the criticism is that fine words never actually tackled the point. 'Digress' means to wander from the subject. 'Circumvent' means to find a way around something, and 'elude' means to escape or evade; both describe what the rebuttal did rather than what it failed to do. Hence option one is correct.