Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word.
Istanbul enjoys a favourable geographical climate.
a)preferential
b)pleasing
c)exceptional
d)advantageous
e)profitable

Answer 1

Hint: We have to find a synonym, which means we have to find a word which has the same meaning as another word. The word favourable means likeable, something favoured or liked by people in general.

Complete answer:

 Option a is preferential. Preferential means when we prefer something over another thing. I prefer coffee to tea, thus, coffee is preferential to me This option is an incorrect answer.
Option b is pleasing. If something is pleasing to you, it pleases you. Classical music is pleasing to me. The meaning of favourable is also pleasing. We find something likeable if it is pleasing to us. Therefore, the synonym of favourable is pleasing. Thus, using it in the given sentence it means that Istanbul has a pleasing geographical climate.
Option c is exceptional. Being exceptional means to be different from the rest. Ramesh is an exceptional child- he learnt all the names of the countries when he was just two years old! The synonym of exceptional is ‘unusual’, not favourable.
Option d is advantageous. When you have an advantage over something, you are advantageous. A possible synonym of advantageous is beneficial. This 5-year plan will be advantageous to the economy of India. It is not the correct answer.
Option e is profitable. If you do something which gives you a profit, it’s a profitable thing. For example, if Anna starts a business in sanitisers during the Covid-19 pandemic, it will be profitable since everyone is buying it. Profitable and favourable have no similarity in their meanings.
Thus, the correct option is option b

Note: On a bare reading of the options, many people might think option a (preferential) to be a synonym of favourable. Though it may be a synonym in certain sentences, in this case, the given sentence is already providing a context as to what is being termed as favourable. Since they are talking about the climate, the correct option is option b (pleasing). Therefore, read the sentence carefully before selecting the correct answer.