Question

Choose the word that completes the analogy:
Darkness : Ignorance :: Light : ?

• A. Intelligence
• B. Knowledge
• C. Cleverness
• D. Familiarity
• E. Dawn

Hint:

Darkness figuratively represents ignorance; think about what light traditionally represents in the same figurative sense.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Work out the relationship between the first pair.
"Darkness" is commonly used as a figurative symbol for "ignorance," the state of not knowing or understanding, as in phrases like "kept in the dark" or "the dark ages."

Step 2: Apply the same relationship to the second pair.
"Light" is the natural opposite symbol, so we need the abstract idea that light traditionally represents, the counterpart of ignorance.

Step 3: Eliminate the options that do not fit.
(a) Intelligence refers to the innate ability to learn and reason, it is a capacity, not the state of having information, so it is not the precise figurative counterpart of ignorance.
(c) Cleverness refers to quick wit or skill, again a personal trait rather than a state of being informed.
(d) Familiarity means being acquainted with something specific, which is narrower than the broad idea light is meant to symbolize.
(e) Dawn is literally the arrival of light, a related image, but it is an event, not the abstract quality that darkness and light are contrasted with here.

Step 4: Confirm the best match.
(b) Knowledge is the direct figurative opposite of ignorance, and light is the classic symbol used across language and literature for knowledge, understanding, and enlightenment.

Step 5: State the answer.
The correct answer is option (b), Knowledge.