Select the most appropriate option that has the same meaning as the italicised segment. His illness became a blessing in disguise when he married his nurse.

Correct — A. A blessing in disguise names something that looks like bad luck at the time and turns out well later.

The sentence supplies both halves itself: the illness is the misfortune, and marrying his nurse is the good that came of it.

Option (a) states that shape exactly — an apparent misfortune that eventually has good results.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  when someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives — This defines a dilemma, the sense of "between a rock and a hard place". The sentence sets out no choice between alternatives.
• (c)
  deal with a problem if and when it becomes necessary — Dealing with a problem only when it arises is cross that bridge when you come to it. That is advice about timing, not a reversal of fortune.
• (d)
  to present a counter- argument — Presenting a counter-argument belongs to debate. The sentence reports an outcome rather than a reply, and neither blessing nor disguise points to argument.

An idiom is answered from the shape of the situation, not from its separate words.

A blessing in disguise has a fixed shape: bad first, good later, and the good visible only in hindsight. Test each candidate meaning against that order.

Here the order is printed in the sentence — illness, then marriage — so the item can be solved even by a student meeting the idiom for the first time.

Key facts

• A blessing in disguise means a misfortune that later proves beneficial.
• Between a rock and a hard place means forced to choose between two unpleasant options.
• Cross that bridge when you come to it means deal with a problem only when it arises.

Common traps

• Reading disguise as deception and looking for an option about hiding.
• Choosing an option that correctly defines some other idiom.
• Missing that the good result has to come after the apparent misfortune.

No directly related past PYQ was found.