Question

What is the meaning of the idiom “To drive a hard bargain”?
a) Not easily available
b) Earn enough
c) Be in the same difficult situation
d) Uncompromising in making a deal

Answer 1

Hint:The idiom "to drive a hard bargain" means to be severe in a transaction or agreement, or be good at negotiating a beneficial arrangement, or to work hard to negotiate a favorable deal.

Complete answer:
 First, let us look into what idioms are. Well, idioms are phrases, sayings, or a group of words that has a metaphorical and not literal meaning, which has become accepted in common usage.
Also, their symbolic sense is quite different from the literal meaning or definition of words of which they are made.
So, what do we understand? We understand that each word used in the idiom does not have its own contribution to bringing out its meaning.
Now, the phrase – “to drive a hard bargain” is used to describe severity in a transaction or making an agreement, or to work very hard to negotiate a favorable deal, or be very determined to get what one wants or be uncompromising in making a deal.
Now, we look into the usage of the idiom which can be understood by the following examples – I was able to drive a hard bargain as I was more experienced for the job, or they were out to drive a hard bargain, etc.
Now, as you can see by the above-given explanation the correct solution would be the option –‘d’, i.e. uncompromising in making a deal.
Whereas if we look at other options available we will see -
Not easily available - something that is scarce, or too few in number
Earn enough - means/ indicates that your income or salary is sufficient
Be in the same difficult position - indicates having some trouble that you already faced (or continue to face) once, or troubles similar to others
As, you can see the other options to not fulfill the metaphorical meaning of the given phrase, idiom. Therefore, they are not the correct solutions.

Note: Remember that each of the words used in the idiom does not have its own contribution to bringing out its meaning. You should be familiar with the metaphorical meaning of the phrase to eliminate the options that are not correct.