Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. That which is no longer in existence

Correct — D. The phrase describes a state, not an event: that which is no longer in existence.

Extinct is the adjective for exactly that state — a species, a language or a volcano that has ceased to exist or to be active.

Vanished, removed and destroyed all name an action done to something, and the phrase says nothing about how the thing ended. Option (d) is the one-word substitute.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Vanished — Vanished names the act of disappearing, usually suddenly, and leaves open that the thing is somewhere still. The phrase describes a settled condition.
• (b)
  Removed — Removed presupposes a place: something taken away from one spot still exists in another. Nothing has ceased to exist.
• (c)
  Destroyed — Destroyed says how the thing ended, by being ruined. The phrase names no cause, only the outcome.

A one-word substitute has to match the grammar of the phrase as well as its sense. 'That which is no longer in existence' is a relative clause built on is — a condition that holds now, with no agent and no cause named.

Extinct is an adjective describing that condition. Vanished, removed and destroyed are past participles, and each smuggles in an event, in two cases an agent as well.

Reading the phrase for its verb before you scan the options is what separates the four here.

Key facts

• Extinct means having ceased to exist, used of species, languages and volcanoes that are no longer active.
• Removed implies a place the thing was taken from, so the thing still exists somewhere.
• A phrase of the form 'that which is ...' calls for an adjective, not a past-tense action word.

Common traps

• Choosing 'Vanished' because it is the commonest everyday word for something that is gone.
• Overlooking that the phrase describes a condition and not an event, which is what rules out Destroyed.

No directly related past PYQ was found.