The governor granted the political prisoners …

Analyze the question: We need the word that best completes "The governor granted the political prisoners __." The key ideas are governor, granted, and political prisoners.

Explain the concepts:

• Asylum: protection given by a country to a person fleeing persecution elsewhere. It is not given to prisoners already in custody by a governor.
• Acquittal: a court's verdict that a person is not guilty. A judge or jury gives it, not a governor, and it is not "granted" by an executive.
• Amnesty: a general pardon given by a government or executive authority to a group of people, often political offenders, which usually leads to their release.
• Bail: temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, usually set by a court, and normally granted to individuals rather than as a political act.

Solution:

1. The giver is a governor, an executive authority. Executives grant pardons and amnesties, while courts give acquittals and bail.
2. The recipients are political prisoners, a group. Amnesty is classically granted to groups of political offenders.
3. "Granted amnesty" is also a very common collocation.
4. Asylum does not fit because the prisoners are already held in the governor's own jurisdiction.

So the best fit is amnesty.

Answer: C. amnesty

Tip: Link the words to who gives them:

• Amnesty → government, for political offenders
• Acquittal → court, after a trial
• Bail → court or police, before a trial
• Asylum → a foreign country, for refugees