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Answer: We believe the sentence is best completed this way:

“Oil drilling enthusiasm and environmental awareness are not mutually exclusive mindsets, though zealots on each side seldom see past the mirror image.”

A mirror image reflects an object in reverse. Comb hair with your right hand in front of a mirror and the mirror image has you combing your hair with your left hand. In the same way, people on the opposite ends of a debate look alike except in their espousal of diametrically opposed opinions. Often, they fail to see anything in common. They cannot “see past the mirror image” and appreciate that the other person also has integrity and valid arguments. Looking “past” a mirror is a metaphysical concept that suggests an extra dimension in an image, beyond what can be seen. Skilled scholarly writers can blend reality and abstraction to communicate a point.
物體在鏡中的影像是相反的，在鏡子前用右手梳頭，在鏡像裡梳頭的是左手。同樣的，在辯論中立場相異的兩方其實很相似，只是擁護的意見截然不同。雙方對所有事情的看法完全不同，無法 “see past the mirror image”（看透鏡像），瞭解對方的論點其實合情合理。看「透」鏡子是種抽象的說法，說明表象外還有另一個空間。寫作技巧熟練，就能融合現實與抽象的概念，傳達觀點。