Question

read the excerpt from paragraph 3.

were mankind totally free from every tincture of prejudice in favour of those gallant exertions which could not exist were there not the evil of violence to combat....

the suffix -tion usually indicates that a word is a noun. what is the meaning of exertions as it is used in this excerpt?

○ deaths in combat
○ soldiers active in battle
○ acts involving great effort
○ reasons for starting a war

Explanation:

1. Analyze the context: The sentence talks about "gallant exertions" related to combating violence.
2. Analyze the root word: The root of "exertions" is "exert", which means to put forth effort.
3. Evaluate the options:

• "deaths in combat" doesn't relate to effort.
• "soldiers active in battle" refers to people, not actions/efforts.
• "acts involving great effort" matches the meaning of "exert" (putting effort) and the context of combating violence (needing effort).
• "reasons for starting a war" is unrelated to effort.

Answer:

C. acts involving great effort