Question

Fill in the blank with the right choice of words.
For centuries there was no ___ between their descendants; in fact____ strife continued until modern times.
a) peace - internecine
b) hostility - intermittent
c) malevolence - intense
d) amity - contrived
e) difference – feudal

Answer 1

Hint: An adjective is a word that expresses an attribute of something. An adjective is the word class that qualifies nouns.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us fits in the context by providing a word that is antonymous to ‘strife’ for the first blank (as the usage of strife indicates that there was no bitter conflict between the descendants before as well as today) and a word that indicates strong conflict for the second blank.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'peace - internecine', refers to ‘peace’ which means ‘harmonious relations; freedom from disputes’ and ‘internecine’ which means ‘characterized by bloodshed and carnage for both sides; (of conflict) within a group or organization.’Therefore, option (a.) is correct as it correctly describes the sentence and complies with context.
Option (b.), ‘hostility - intermittent', refers to ‘hostility’ which means ‘a hostile (very unfriendly) disposition’ and ‘intermittent’ which means ‘stopping and starting at irregular intervals.’ Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as hostility is not antonymous to strife, and intermittent does not indicate conflict.
Option (c.), ‘malevolence - intense', refers to malevolence, which means ‘the quality of threatening evil’ and ‘intense’, which means ‘possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree.’ Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as malevolence is not antonymous to strife, and intense does not indicate conflict.
Option (d.), ‘amity - contrived', refers to ‘amity’ which means ‘a state of friendship and cordiality’ and ‘contrived’ which means ‘showing effects of planning or manipulation.’
Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as ‘contrived’ does not indicate conflict.
Option (e.), ‘difference - feudal', refers to ‘difference’ which means ‘a disagreement or argument about something important’ and ‘feudal’ which means ‘a bitter quarrel between two parties’.Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as ‘difference’ is not antonymous to strife.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of ‘nouns’ as ‘peace’ as a noun. A noun is a content word that can be used to refer to a person, place, thing, quality, or action. A noun is the word class that can serve as the subject or object of a verb, the object of a preposition, or in apposition.