Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
Every one of us should endeavour to ______________ the miseries of the poor.
a) Diffuse
b) Mitigate
c) Condemn
d) Suppress
e) Acknowledge

Answer 1

Hint: As per the sentence we have to choose a word that completes the sentence by adding the fact that we should work to lessen the miseries of poor people.

Complete answer:
In the above question, the complete sentence would mean that – everyone should endeavour (work hard) to reduce the problems and miseries of the poor or at least make it less painful for them.
So, to find the perfect fit for the sentence let us go through the options that we have and try to understand their meaning and see if they can be used herein the context of reducing the pain.
Option (a) – diffuse – means to spread over a wide area or between a large number of people or sometimes it means to make something less dangerous or tense, or to remove the fuse from something. For example: that should diffuse the tension in the room.
Option (b) – mitigate – means to make something less bad, sever, serous or painful or lessen the gravity of the situation or mistake. For example: let us try to mitigate this issue.
Option (c) – condemn – means to express disapproval or sentence to a particular punishment (especially death). For example: he was condemned for his act.
Option (d) – suppress – means to put an end to (forcefully) or to prevent an action or expression form coming to surface or restrain oneself or prevent development. For example: he suppressed his emotions.
Option (e) – acknowledge – means to accept or admit the existence or truth about something or recognize the importance of something. For example I acknowledge your presence.
As per the above-given explanations, we can see that only one word fulfills the required meaning. Therefore, the correct solution is option (b), i.e. mitigate.

Note:
You cannot suppress the miseries of the poor and you cannot help them by acknowledging them. Hence these two options are totally irrelevant here.