Question

Fill in the blanks with a suitable option:
The line ‘the foe is worthy of the steel,’ means that _______________.
a)The other person is capable of defending himself
b)The opposite team is equipped with deadly arms
c)The enemy shows a lot of fact and flexibility
d)The enemy is weak

Answer 1

Hint: Steel indicates Strength. In proverbs, symbolism comes into play. The actual word in the statement might mean something different in reality but the qualities of the word or what the word symbolises in a given statement are focussed upon. In the given proverb, the symbolism of steel is emphasized to deduce the meaning of the sentence.

Complete step-by-step answer:

If we break the given phrase and try to understand each word’s meaning, the word foe means enemy, the word worthy means to have qualities or capabilities, the word steel indicates strength and reliability.
In option a, the sentence includes all the underlying meanings of the different words the phrase indicates. The term worthy means to have capabilities and the option talks about the capabilities of the person. Second, steel indicates reliable strength and the option shows the capability of the person to defend himself which means he has reliable strength to do that. So, option a is the correct option.
Option b talks about the external factors like the deadly arms the enemy has and not the capabilities of the enemy which the phrase doesn’t represent at all. So, option b is incorrect.
Option c doesn’t conform to the underlying meaning of the word steel. The steel in the phrase means strength and the option talks about the enemy’s flexibility which is not the idea of the phrase. So, option c is also incorrect.
Option d represents just the opposite of what is demonstrated in the given phrase. The strength of the enemy is talked about and this option reveals that the enemy is weak. So, option d is also incorrect.

Note: Do not confuse option b and option a. Option deals with the intangible capabilities of the enemy while option b talks about the tangible deadly arms(noun) of the enemy. Option a and option c deal with the capabilities of the enemy but then the word steel steals the attention with its underlying meaning which means strength and option c doesn’t conform with that.