Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

Shakespeare's ________ of Richard III is so ________ that it is difficult to imagine that the ruler had been dead for more than a century before the Bard cast him as the central character in one of his plays.

The first part of the sentence (containing both missing words) must explain why it is difficult to imagine that Richard III had been dead for so long when Shakespeare wrote the play. A vivid (lifelike or realistic) depiction (characterization or description) of the ruler would provide such an explanation. Hence, (3) is the answer.