The professor's lectures were not ______, despite their reputation; rather, she approached each subject with a genuine desire to provoke thought, even when her conclusions were unsettling.
Correct: B
The sentence requires a word that means 'intended to soothe or flatter' or 'excessively agreeable,' which is then negated to suggest the professor was neither soothing nor flattering but genuinely provocative. Uncuous means excessively or ingratiatingly polite, earnest, or cooperative; it describes someone who is smooth, oily, and overly deferential. The professor's genuine desire to provoke thought, even when unsettling, contrasts with unctuousness. Edifying means instructive, polemical means involving strong disagreement, and dogmatic means expressing opinions in an uncompromising manner.