Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank. Kamal is not willing to purchase a house on the 12th floor of a sea-side apartment, as she is fearful of heights. She is suffering from ___________.

Correct — D. The sentence names the fear outright: she is fearful of heights, and the 12th floor is there to make that height concrete.

Rule: read the root, not the ending. Every option ends in -phobia, so the ending separates nothing.

Acro- is from Greek akron, a peak or topmost point — the root behind acrobat and Acropolis. Fear of high places is therefore acrophobia → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  heliophobia — Helio- is Greek for sun, as in heliocentric, so heliophobia is fear of sunlight. Nothing in the sentence mentions light or being outdoors.
• (b)
  sociophobia — Socio- points to people and social situations, so sociophobia is fear of social contact. Kamal is refusing a floor, not company.
• (c)
  claustrophobia — Claustro- is from Latin claustrum, an enclosed place, so claustrophobia is fear of confined spaces. A 12th-floor flat is high, not shut in, and the sentence says heights.

Every -phobia word is a compound: a Greek or Latin root naming the thing feared, plus phobos, fear. The suffix is identical across all four options, so it carries no information and the root is the entire question.

Learn the roots as roots and each new word decodes itself — acro- high, claustro- enclosed, helio- sun, socio- social, hydro- water, ophidio- snakes.

Here the sentence states the fear in plain words. Find that phrase first, then match a root to it.

Key facts

• Acrophobia is fear of heights, from Greek akron, a peak or highest point.
• Claustrophobia is fear of enclosed spaces, from Latin claustrum, a closed place.
• Heliophobia is fear of sunlight, from Greek helios, the sun.
• The suffix -phobia comes from Greek phobos, fear, and is shared by every word in this family.

Common traps

• Choosing claustrophobia because it is the phobia most candidates can name.
• Being led by sea-side to hunt for a water root, which no option offers.
• Reading acro- as sharp, on the model of acrid, when akron means a peak.

No directly related past PYQ was found.