多选题 The testimony of the witness, meant to ______ the defense of the man accused of theft, actually strengthened the case of his accusers.

A、 appease
B、 deprecate
C、 buttress
D、 initiate
E、 bolster
F、 mitigate

【正确答案】 C、E

【答案解析】[解析] ● actually说明前后反义重复。
● 设空处______ the defense与strengthened(加强)反义重复。
● appease缓和，deprecate反对，buttress支持，initiate开始，bolster支持，mitigate缓和。答案选CE。
● 注：这里appease和mitigate是干扰项，同表示“缓和”，且与正确选项构成反义词。