Question

Choose the exact meaning of the idiom/phrase.
He is the sort of man who would do anything for a consideration.
A. Out of love
B. In sympathy with the aggrieved
C. If he found some merit in it
D. If he were paid to do it

Answer 1

Hint: An idiom is a type of phrase with a non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Their figurative meaning is different from their literal meaning. On the other hand, a phrase is a compilation of words with a definite, literal meaning. They are not complete sentences and used as a part of sentences. There are different types of phrases, such a prepositional phrase, conjunctional phrase, etc. The above underlined series of words is a phrase. Hence, the meaning will be literal and contextual.

Complete answer:
Let us go through the given options and see which of the following phrases is the most suitable one in order to describe the given phrase.
1. The first option, 'out of love' can be expressed as doing something for love or for the person/thing you love. For instance, “She baked the cake out of love for his birthday”.
2. The second option is “in sympathy with the aggrieved”. Aggrieved is a person who is feeling resentment for being ill treated. Hence, this phrase's meaning is being sympathetic for the person or situation which is badly treated.
3. The third option is “If he found some merit in it”. This set of words can be used in a sentence like, “You’ll be selected by him if he finds some merit in you”.
4. The fourth option is “if he were paid to do it”. This phrase can be used in a sentence like, “He would have done anything if he were paid to do it”.
5. Now as we found that two options can be appropriate, but as per the syntax of the question sentence, we can set “if he found some merit in it”. Because, in both parts of the sentences, the voices are set in an active voice. So, we think that the option C is correct here.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C'.

Note:While dealing with such questions, one should keep in mind that it can be possible that the given phrase is not synonymous to the given options. In such a scenario, we need to find the one with the closest resemblance. Please note again that when you would find some merit in something, that is quite similar with the case, which you think that it will give you payout.