Select the most appropriate synonym of the word in bold. The choice was judicious as further events proved.

Correct — C. Judicious means showing good judgement — sensible, careful, well weighed.

The sentence confirms that reading with as further events proved: what happened later showed the choice had been the right one, so the missing word must be praise.

Prudent means acting with care and foresight, which is that same praise. The other three all criticise the choice, and this sentence commends it — option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  hasty — Hasty means done in a hurry with too little thought. It describes the absence of judgement, not its exercise, and a hasty choice is not what later events vindicate.
• (b)
  ridiculous — Ridiculous means absurd or deserving mockery. It condemns the choice outright, while 'as further events proved' shows the choice turned out well.
• (d)
  silly — Silly means foolish or lacking sense. It is the plain opposite of judicious, so it reverses the sentence rather than restating it.

Judicious comes from judgement, not from the courts. Judicial is the court word; judicious is the praise word for a person or a decision that shows sound sense.

When a synonym is set inside a sentence rather than on its own, the sentence is the tie-breaker. Here the clause as further events proved tells you the choice was later shown to be right, so only a word with a positive charge can fit.

Three of the four options here are negative, so sorting the options into praise and blame settles the item before you weigh shades of meaning.

Key facts

• Judicious means showing good judgement — sensible and well considered.
• Prudent means acting with care and foresight, and is a standard synonym of judicious.
• Judicious is not judicial, which means relating to courts, judges or legal judgement.

Common traps

• Reading judicious as judicial and then hunting for a courtroom word.
• Ignoring 'as further events proved', the clause that fixes the word as praise.
• Picking hasty because it, too, describes the manner in which a decision was reached.

No directly related past PYQ was found.