Pick out the most effective word from the given words to fill in the blanks to make the sentence meaningfully complete. The respondent’s reply during the cross examination in the court was ________ by contradictions
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Understand the logical relationship: Contradictions always weaken or damage a claim.
Look for negative verbs like ``undermine'', which are commonly used in analytical and legal prose to describe this effect.
Step 1: Understand the context. The sentence says the respondent's reply during cross-examination was weakened or damaged by contradictions within it. Step 2: Eliminate incorrect options. "Eliminated" means removed; "confused" means made unclear; "validated" means confirmed or supported, which is the opposite of what contradictions do to a reply. Step 3: Select the correct word. "Undermined" means to weaken or erode something gradually, which is exactly what internal contradictions do to a respondent's reply in cross-examination. \[ \boxed{\text{undermined}} \]