Question

passages
excerpt from letter from birmingham jail (1963) by martin luther king jr.
\we know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor;
it must be demanded by the oppressed. frankly, i have yet to engage in a direct action
campaign that was well timed in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the
disease of segregation. for years now i have heard the word wait it rings in the ear of every
negro with piercing familiarity. this wait has almost always meant never. we must come to
see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that justice too long delayed is justice denied.\

passage 2
politics and the english language (1946) by george orwell
\in our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. things like
the continuance of british rule in india, the russian purges and deportations, the dropping of
the atom bombs on japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too
brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political
parties. thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question - begging, and
sheer cloudy vagueness. defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants
driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine - gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary
bullets: this is called pacification. millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent
trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population
or rectification of frontiers. people are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of
the neck or sent to die of scurvy in arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable
elements. such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental
pictures of them.
24 what does orwell mean by euphemism?
a a strong metaphor.
b a mild or vague word that hides harsh reality.
c harsh truth told directly
d a political joke.

Explanation:

To determine Orwell's meaning of "euphemism", we analyze the examples in Passage 2. Orwell shows that harsh actions (e.g., bombing villages, displacing peasants) are given mild/vague names ("pacification", "transfer of population") to hide the brutal reality. Option A is incorrect as euphemism isn't a strong metaphor. Option C is the opposite (euphemism hides, not tells harsh truth directly). Option D is incorrect as euphemism isn't a political joke. Option B matches the definition of a euphemism as a mild word hiding harsh reality.

Answer:

B. A mild or vague word that hides harsh reality.