GMAT Vocabulary: Attitudes

When the market board posted a fee only for weekend stalls, Mr. Okonkwo was indignant and read the rule aloud to the other vendors.

After three quiet quarters, the partners at the advisory firm grew complacent and stopped checking the smaller client accounts.

The junior associate spoke in a deferential voice and waited until the senior partner had finished before offering a correction.

The clinic director was ambivalent about the new intake form, praising its clarity while worrying it would slow the nurses.

Parents in the clinic waiting room looked apprehensive as the next name was called, still gripping forms they had not signed.

The council chair gave a contemptuous sniff at the handwritten petition and slid it to the bottom of the stack.

At the night market, Lin grew wistful over the sesame cakes and said they tasted like the stall her aunt once kept.

The broker at the trading firm was chagrined when the client spotted the decimal error, and he reddened as he corrected the sheet.

The market manager was ebullient at the opening bell, greeting each stallholder with a laugh that carried down the aisle.

After the council rejected the park lights, the sponsor sat morose through the rest of the meeting and barely answered when spoken to.

A petulant vendor snapped at the scale inspector, then turned away and muttered about the morning rush.

The clinic lead dismissed the proposal as another study in a sardonic tone, and two nurses exchanged a look that was not quite a smile.

The council clerk gave a rueful shake of the head and admitted the notice had gone out with the wrong date.

Even with two bids still open, the firm partner stayed sanguine and told the team the contract would land by Friday.

The market treasurer was incredulous at the cash count, holding the receipt up to the light and asking the clerk to add it again.

The new analyst offered her forecast in a diffident murmur and glanced at the partner as if she expected to be corrected.

When the clinic alarm chirped for a low battery, Dr. Shah stayed nonchalant and kept writing, saying the unit did that every afternoon.

The junior council member was resentful after being skipped in the roll call, and his answers for the rest of the hour came out short.

After the missed delivery, the warehouse lead came to the firm contrite, with his hat in his hands, and offered to cover the rush fee himself.

A cynical stallholder told the market board that the raffle was only a way to collect phone numbers.

Years of broken promises had left the council delegate jaundiced, and she described every new plaza plan as a trick.

The hearing officer at the council stayed dispassionate, asking the firm and the neighbors the same questions in the same even voice.

Before the council, a resident gave an impassioned plea for the night bus, her voice shaking as she described the walk home from the clinic.

When the grant cleared, the clinic director was elated and called the staff in from the hallway to share the news.

After the third lender declined, the fish seller sat despondent on an overturned crate and would not price the morning catch.

The council chamber turned euphoric when the levy passed by one vote, and members talked over one another in delight.

A melancholy quiet settled over the firm after the founding partner's farewell lunch, and nobody reopened the case files.

Vendors were jubilant when the market roof was finished before the rains, clapping as the last tarp came down.

The night-shift nurses felt aggrieved that the new parking rule applied only to them, and they asked the clinic board for a written reason.

The council clerk grew exasperated as the same speaker returned to the microphone for a fourth time about the same sidewalk crack.

A distraught father arrived at the clinic without the child's chart, and the receptionist walked him to a chair before asking any questions.

The auctioneer grew flustered when two paddles rose at once, and she had to ask the market floor which bid had come first.

Caught pricing the pears from last week's card, the grocer looked sheepish and quickly wrote the new numbers on the board.

Abashed by applause he had not expected, the intern at the firm studied his shoes and forgot the rest of his sentence.

The council member was mortified when her microphone stayed on through a private complaint, and she asked that the remark be struck from the record.

Penitent after double-billing a family by mistake, the billing clerk at the clinic refunded the charge before anyone had filed a complaint.

The firm sent an apologetic note with the corrected deed and said the missing initial had been its own mistake.

The council gave only begrudging approval to the late budget, and the chair said she would not pretend to like the cuts.

Envious of the corner stall's line, the spice seller watched the crowd and wished her own awning faced the same street.

The clinic nurse was sympathetic when the patient described the long bus ride, and she offered a chair before starting the intake.

The counselor at the firm stayed empathetic during the layoff meeting, repeating each person's worry before she discussed dates.

Asked which banner she preferred, the market inspector stayed indifferent and said the color did not matter to her at all.

The evening crowd at the council hearing was apathetic, and half the chairs stayed empty even during the school-budget vote.

The council clerk remained impassive while both speakers raised their voices, writing the times down without a change in his face.

A fervent supporter of the well project gripped the council rail and said the neighborhood had waited through two dry summers.

The clinic volunteer was zealous about the sign-in sheet, stopping every visitor so no name would be missed.

The firm's reply to the partnership offer was tepid, praising the idea in one line and proposing no date to meet.

Council comments on the mural were lukewarm, with members calling it acceptable and moving on without a sponsor.

An ardent backer of the Saturday market spoke past the time limit, describing the dawn setup as the best part of her week.

The clinic's patient advocate was vehement that the billing code was wrong, repeating the point until the coder opened the chart.

The partner's acerbic note in the margin told the associate to read the draft again, and the associate flinched.

A caustic remark from the council chair about pretty drawings ended the architect's presentation before the cost page.

The letter to the market board was vitriolic, calling the fee hike a betrayal and refusing any further meetings.

The review of the firm's safety plan was scathing, listing each missing drill and treating the binder as an empty performance.

The council's laudatory resolution thanked the night crew by name and asked that the letter be read into the record.

The client was effusive on the call, thanking the firm three times before the partner could describe the filing date.

After the sharp exchange, the clinic manager offered a conciliatory pause and suggested they look at the schedule together.

A disparaging aside about hobby farms drew a murmur, and the market chair asked the speaker to address the fee itself.

The ethics chair was censorious about the gift baskets, saying the firm should have returned them the same day.

The consultant at the strategy firm grew dogmatic about the single forecast, repeating that no other reading of the sales chart was possible.

The debate stopped being useful once the comments turned partisan, with each council bloc cheering only its own amendment.

The hearing panel stayed impartial, giving the clinic and the neighbors equal time and asking both to answer the same noise log.

A credulous buyer at the market accepted the hand-milled label without asking which mill, and paid before tasting the flour.

The partner looked dubious about the unsigned waiver and would not file it until the client initialed every page.

Asked about layoffs, the managing partner grew guarded and said only that staffing talks were still private.

During the stallholders' argument, the market manager stayed aloof at the end of the aisle and did not join either side.

The rival firms were cordial in the hallway, trading short greetings before they sat on opposite sides of the table.

The visiting buyer was haughty with the fishmongers, refusing to step closer and speaking as if the ice tables were beneath her.

A supercilious glance from the senior counsel stopped the junior's joke, and the room at the firm returned to the contract clause.

The consultant's condescending smile suggested the council could not read a budget, and two members set their pens down.

The new aide was obsequious with the council chair, agreeing with every pause and laughing before the joke had landed.

After the audit found no errors, the bookkeeper at the firm looked smug and tapped the balanced ledger as if the meeting were already over.

The oldest vendor grew nostalgic when the market played the old closing bell, and she described the wooden stalls that used to line the river.

A forlorn intern waited outside the locked firm with her badge in her hand, long after the others had gone to the hearing.

Disconsolate after the clinic lost its lease, the director sat with the unsigned renewal and would not take the tea a nurse brought.

Despite the slow morning, the flower seller stayed buoyant and told her neighbor the lunch crowd would still come.

Even when two orders arrived wrong, the pharmacist stayed placid and rechecked the labels without raising her voice.

The council chair remained serene during the shouting, pouring water and waiting until the room could hear itself.

The lab courier arrived agitated, saying the samples had sat in traffic, and he would not sit until the clinic logged them.

A fretful guardian kept checking the clinic clock and asked twice whether the specialist had already called their name.

A querulous caller kept the firm on the line, objecting to the hold music before anyone had reached his file.

The contractor turned truculent when the council asked about the delay, folding his arms and daring anyone to cite the contract.

A belligerent exchange over stall boundaries forced the market mediator to stand between the two produce tables.

The clinic director was livid when she learned the freezer alarm had been silenced overnight, and her questions came fast and sharp.

An irate shopper returned to the market office with a torn bag of rice and demanded the manager before she would give her name.

Piqued by the public correction, the analyst closed her notebook and did not speak again until the firm broke for lunch.

The baker was miffed that her stall was listed as a snack booth, and she asked the market map to say bread instead.

Peeved by the third reprint of the same flyer, the council clerk stacked them face down and asked who had ordered the extras.

Galled by praise that named only the day shift, the night pharmacist wrote a blunt note in the clinic log.

The partner at the firm was dismayed to find the filing stamped a day late, and she called the clerk before unpacking her coat.

Council members were appalled by the photos of the unlit clinic lot and asked for a safety light before the next hearing.

The surgeon stepped back aghast when the tray count came up short, and the clinic room stayed quiet until the missing clamp was found.

Bemused by the two conflicting lab slips, the physician held both up and asked the clinic clerk which draw time was real.

The market accountant was perplexed by a refund that matched no receipt, and she set the slip aside rather than force it into a column.

Engineers from the facilities firm were baffled by the clinic power log, which showed the generator running on a day it had been locked.

Nonplussed by a compliment from the rival firm, the attorney paused so long that the mediator asked if she wanted a recess.

Disgruntled vendors clustered by the loading dock, unhappy with the new cart fee and unwilling to start the morning setup.

A disaffected bloc on the council stopped attending subcommittee lunches and voted only when a roll call forced them to.

Embittered by three rejected bids, the contractor told the firm he would not revise the proposal a fourth time.

The clinic's doleful announcement of the Saturday closure left the waiting room quiet, and a few patients folded their reminder cards.

The consultant's lugubrious forecast described every risk in a mournful drawl, and the partners asked him to get to the numbers.

A plaintive note from the night guard described the unlit market alley, and the council read it aloud before the lighting vote.

The retiring nurse grew lachrymose during the clinic farewell, wiping her eyes as she thanked the night shift by name.

Blasé after a decade of ribbon cuttings, the council chair barely looked up when the market unveiled its new awning.

Jaded by a month of the same lunch specials, the traders at the firm barely glanced at the cafeteria board.

The clinic buyer was leery of the unusually cheap gloves and asked for the lot number before she would sign.

The crowd grew restive when the council delayed the vote for a third recess, and several people stood up with their coats.