Because of the hard times, workers live in … poverty

Step 1: Analyze the question The sentence is: "Because of the hard times, workers live in __ poverty." We need an adjective that naturally collocates with "poverty" and describes its severity.

Step 2: The concept (collocation) In English, some words are habitually paired. "Abject poverty" is a standard collocation meaning extreme poverty, the worst and most hopeless level of deprivation.

Step 3: Test each option

• A. repulsive means causing disgust. It describes things like smells or behaviour, not the state of poverty.
• B. ridiculous means absurd or laughable. It doesn't fit a serious situation of hardship.
• C. abject means extreme, miserable, and hopeless. "Abject poverty" is the correct, idiomatic phrase.
• D. unpardonable means not deserving forgiveness. It is used for offences or mistakes, not for poverty.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is C. abject. The sentence reads: "Because of the hard times, workers live in abject poverty.

Exam tip: In "fill in the blank" questions, look for collocations, which are words that commonly go together. Learn pairs like abject poverty, grave danger, heavy rain, utter confusion and sheer luck. If a phrase sounds natural to you, it is usually right.