Question

Fill in the blanks with a suitable choice of words:
Nothing is so ______ to a nation as an extreme of self-partiality, and the total want of _____ of what others will naturally hope for.
a) repugnant ; sense
b) delusional ; method
c) fatal ; consideration
d) unethical ; discretion
e) detrimental ; concern

Answer 1

Hint: Depending on what comes before and after the blank, the blank will be filled with an adjective that further illustrates what the sentence is trying to say.

Complete answer:
An adjective is a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it. Its semantic role is to change the information given by the noun. In short, it lends description to the noun. They are of various types such as demonstrative, possessive, qualitative, quantitative, etc.

The given blanks need to be filled with adjectives. The given sentence is trying to tell us that the extreme want of self partiality is very dangerous for a nation.

Now, we know exactly what we are looking for. Let’s look through the given options:
a) repugnant ; sense - The word ‘repugnant’ refers to ‘extremely distasteful; unacceptable’ and the word ‘sense’ refers to a feeling that something is the case'. These words do not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) delusional ; method - The word ‘delusional’ refers to ‘characterised by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder’ and the word ‘method’ refers to ‘the quality of being well organised and systematic in thought or action'. These words do not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) fatal ; consideration - The word ‘fatal’ refers to ‘leading to failure or disaster’ and the word ‘consideration’ refers to ‘careful thought, typically over a period of time'. These words fit perfectly into the context of the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
d) unethical ; discretion - The word ‘unethical’ refers to ‘not morally correct’ and the word ‘discretion’ refers to ‘the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing confidential information’. These words do not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
e) detrimental ; concern - The word ‘detrimental’ refers to ‘tending to cause harm' and the word ‘concern’ refers to ‘make (someone) anxious or worried'. These words do not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Use the method of trial and error in order to find out which option fits best. Make sure that the part of speech is fitting for the sentence, and retains the meaning of the sentence.