2014-10-16 09:00:54

One of the goals of the United Nations is to solve global conflicts as they arise using diplomacy so as to  ______ nations from fighting each other.

(A) harken
(B) deter
(C) delineate
(D) hearten
(E) depress

The correct answer is B
Explanation: To find the missing word, try to predict its meaning by using clues in the sentence. Here, the best clue is the phrase "so as to," which sets up a cause-and-effect relationship between the two parts of the sentence. Thus, the missing word describes what the UN does to "nations from fighting" as a result of trying "to solve global conflicts... using diplomacy." It follows that the UN would seek to prevent nations from going to war, so the missing word must mean "prevent." As such, choice B is correct: "deter" means "to discourage someone from doing something."

None of the other choices work, either:

harken: to listen
delineate: to describe precisely
hearten: to make more confident or cheerful
depress: to make someone feel unhappy or dispirited