Answer the following question, choose the option nearest in meaning to the word or phrase underlined. The scholar's epitaph was demolished

Analyze the question: The word is "epitaph". We need the option closest in meaning to it. (The sentence is "The scholar's epitaph was demolished.")

Explain the concept: An epitaph is a short inscription or text written on a tombstone or memorial in honour of a dead person. It comes from the Greek epi (upon) + taphos (tomb). In everyday usage, it refers to the words, or the memorial itself, that commemorate someone who has died.

Solution, checking each option:

• A. embodiment: This means a physical form or representation of an idea or quality (e.g., "she is the embodiment of kindness"). It has nothing to do with tombs or memorials.
• B. farmland: Land for farming. Unrelated.
• C. book: A scholar might write books, but an epitaph is not a book, and a book is not "demolished" in the usual sense.
• D. monument: A structure or inscription erected to commemorate a person or event, such as a tomb or memorial. This is the closest in meaning, and it also fits the verb "demolished", since a monument is a structure that can be pulled down.

Answer: D. monument

Note that strictly speaking, an epitaph is the inscription on a tomb, while a monument is the structure itself.

Tip: Break unfamiliar words into roots. Epi- means "upon" and taphos means "tomb", so epitaph = "something written upon a tomb". Anything about tombs, memorials or the dead should lead you to "monument" in a question like this.