Verbal Ability - Question of the Day

QUESTION:-
Fill in the blanks in the passage with the most appropriate set of words from the options for each blank.
Many medical conditions associated with growing older, such as cataracts and blocked arteries, can nowadays be readily treated. But aching bones still leave researchers ____. Early prediction brings benefits because if people know they are ____ to osteoarthritis in their knees, there are things that they can do to ____ it. Reducing _____, so less stress is placed on the knees, exercising and consuming certain diets can all help.

OPTIONS
1)bewildered, pregnable, aggravate, weight
2)bewildered, assailable, alleviate, load
3)perplexed, susceptible, exacerbate, fat
4)perplexed, vulnerable, mitigate, weight
5)enlightened, susceptible, extenuate, mass


Solution
Researchers are not able to readily treat aching bones. This cannot leave them ‘enlightened’. Thus, option 5 is eliminated.
‘Exacerbate’ means ‘to increase the severity’ and 'aggravate' means 'to worsen'. Both these words offer an opposite stance to what is required in blank 3. Eliminate options 1 and 3.
For the last blank, between options 2 and 4, 'weight' is a better fit than 'load' which is a slightly informal/ casual way of presenting the same meaning. The entire sentence is not casual or informal- it presents a very matter of fact scientific information.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.

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