The labourers who were fired broke into the office building and destroyed some of the machinery. Rather than finding a solution to their problems, they __________

Question

Option 1: exacerbated the situation

Option 2: extended their troubles

Option 3: exaggerated their hardships

Option 4: extenuated the circumstance

AfterBoards · Accepted Answer

The blank needs a verb meaning to make a bad situation worse. Option 1 -> exacerbated -> means to make a problem or situation worse, which fits perfectly. Option 2 -> extended -> means to make something longer in time or space, not necessarily worse. Option 3 -> exaggerated -> means to overstate or make something seem bigger than it is, not to worsen it. Option 4 -> extenuated -> means to make something seem less serious by providing excuses, the opposite of what's needed.

When you exacerbate a situation, you're like adding fuel to a fire - you make an already bad situation even worse. If your friend is angry about something small and you start criticizing them too, you've just exacerbated the problem instead of helping to solve it.

IPMAT Indore (VA) PYQs

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