Question

Select the most appropriate word for the blank space.
Life is to death as pleasure is to _____.
(a) Poverty
(b) Suffering
(c) Anguish
(d) Pain

Answer 1

Hint: Read the sentence and try to guess what it is trying to convey. Now go through the given options and choose the one which helps in expressing the context of the given sentence. You can use the hit and trial method too.

Complete answer:
We need to find a word that is similar to pleasure as given in the context of the similarity shared by life and death.
First, let’s look at life and death-
Life refers to the mortality or existence of an individual in the physical world. For example- The monk dedicated his life to serving the poor.
Death refers to the demise or passing of life in the physical aspect. For example- They were quite disturbed by their friend’s death.
Now, as given- Life is to death. Here, we know that ‘life’ is the opposite of ‘death’. So, life and death share a similarity based on being opposites of each other. Hence, we need to find a word that is the opposite of ‘pleasure’.
Pleasure refers to the state of happiness and enjoyment.
Let’s look at the given options-
Option a- ‘Poverty’ refers to the state of being impoverished or destitute. ‘Poverty’ is not the opposite of ‘pleasure’. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option b- ‘Suffering’ refers to being sad or encountering misery. ‘Suffering’ is not the opposite of ‘pleasure’. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option c- ‘Anguish’ refers to the state of being angry or agitated. ‘Anguish’ is not the opposite of ‘pleasure’. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option d- ‘Pain’ refers to grief and heartache. ‘Pain’ is the opposite of ‘pleasure’. Hence, it is the correct option. The correct answer is Option ‘d’.

Note:
 Always remember, in such questions we need to find the basis on which the words share a similarity. Also, some other opposites of ‘pleasure’ are; displeasure, heartache, grief, etc.