Which of the following might you use to refer to the opening portion of a historic document?

A flooded, muddy road could be called a:

On a cold, bleak day, it can seem as if winter will never end. At such times, it's quite natural to start thinking about a very different kind of scene.

Bleak helps to characterize winter as being:

On a cold, bleak day, it can seem as if winter will never end. At such times, it's quite natural to start thinking about a very different kind of scene. For example, one could easily imagine oneself on a tropical island, feeling thoroughly relaxed, perhaps even languid, as the warm breezes blow and gentle waves lap the shore.

Which of the following words could be used to replace languid?

For example, one could easily imagine oneself on a tropical island, feeling thoroughly relaxed, perhaps even languid, as the warm breezes blow and gentle waves lap the shore. Thoughts like these could even lead a person to aspire to a midwinter getaway and then take the next step, whish would involve looking up destination and travel packages on the Internet ---even if only out of curiosity.

When you aspire to something, you:

There is no reason to chide or look down upon anyone for wanting to escape to milder climates during winter's coldest and darkest days; there is an alternative that everyone should consider. Why not try to explore all it has to offer by taking up a winter sport, such as ice-skating, skiing, or even just plain hiking?

Chide means: