Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. Athens was suffering under the rule of a powerful small group that had no concern for the people's welfare.

Correct — A. The underlined segment is a definition, not a description: a powerful small group that rules.

Rule by a few is exactly what oligarchy names — the word joins Greek oligos, few, to arkhein, to rule.

The rest of the sentence, no concern for the people's welfare, fits the same idea, since power held by a small circle answers to that circle. So the substitute is an oligarchy — option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  a monarchy — A monarchy is rule by one person, which contradicts the group the sentence describes.
• (c)
  a missionary — A missionary is a person sent to spread a religion. It names no form of rule at all, so the phrase the rule of a missionary does not answer the definition.
• (d)
  a democracy — A democracy is rule by the people, so it collides with both halves of the clue — a small group, and no concern for the people.

One-word substitutes for forms of government are built from two Greek pieces: a word for who holds power, and a word for ruling.

The ending -archy comes from arkhein, to rule, and the ending -cracy from kratos, power. The first half names the holder — oligos few, monos alone, demos the people.

Once you read the endings this way, many such words can be decoded from their first half without any outside knowledge.

Key facts

• Oligarchy is rule by a small group, from Greek oligos meaning few.
• Monarchy is rule by a single person, from Greek monos meaning alone.
• Democracy is rule by the people, from Greek demos meaning the people.

Common traps

• Answering from what you remember about Athens instead of from the sentence
• Taking missionary for a system of rule because it looks like a formal noun
• Skipping the word small and treating any harsh government as the answer

No directly related past PYQ was found.