Final answer:
The word "forbidding" is synonymous with ominous, indicating a sense of forewarning or the potential for something negative. It is not related to controversial, promising, or forgotten.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of the paragraph, the word "forbidding" most closely means the same as option D, ominous. "Forbidding" as an adjective is typically used to describe something that appears hostile, threatening, or unfriendly, suggesting that there could be negative or unpleasant outcomes. This is similar to "ominous," which conveys a sense of an impending bad or harmful event. The sense of dread or danger associated with these words is distinctly different from the other options given, such as controversial, promising, or forgotten.
For example, if we were to describe a dark, stormy sky as "forbidding," we would be implying that the weather looks severe and potentially harmful, thus expecting a storm could be imminent. An ominous sign would be something that forewarns of trouble or bad luck, such as a black cat crossing one's path according to common superstitions. Neither of these words would be appropriately swapped with words like controversial, which refers to a topic causing much discussion or disagreement, or promising, which indicates a favorable outlook, nor forgotten, which means no longer remembered.