Question

Instructions: Each of the following items is followed by four words or group of words. Fill in the blank with the appropriate word or group of words.

When indecision grips a nation, free men feel the need for an ____ ruler and are prepared to throw democracy overboard.

• A. optimistic
• B. autocratic
• C. eccentric
• D. energetic

Hint:

The sentence contrasts the blank word with democracy, so think of its direct opposite.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Another reliable approach is to break the sentence into its logical parts and note the cause and effect relationship being described, then find the option that fits that relationship.

The sentence has two parts joined by "and": (1) indecision grips a nation, so free men feel the need for a certain kind of ruler, and (2) they are prepared to throw democracy overboard for that ruler.

Part two tells us directly that the ruler being sought is someone who represents the opposite of democratic government, since people are willing to give up democracy to get this kind of ruler.

Scanning the options for a word meaning "opposite of democratic": optimistic, eccentric, and energetic are all personality descriptors with no connection to political systems, so they can be eliminated immediately.

Autocratic specifically means governed by one person with unrestricted power, which is the precise opposite of democratic rule and fits both parts of the sentence perfectly.

This confirms option B, autocratic, as the correct answer.