Sentence completion: the sentence given below has a blank. Choose the word that best completes the sentence. The king was moved with ______ for the beggar.

Introduction / Context:
This sentence completion question focuses on choosing the correct word based on meaning and collocation. The sentence describes the emotional response of a king towards a beggar. You must select the noun that naturally follows moved with and matches the context of compassion or sympathy.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Sentence: The king was moved with ______ for the beggar.
• Options: pity, piety, pithy, privy, and pride.
• The scene suggests that the king sees the poor condition of the beggar and feels an emotion.
• The verb phrase moved with usually introduces feelings like pity, compassion, or emotion.

Concept / Approach:
Pity means a feeling of sadness and compassion for the suffering or misfortunes of others. This fits perfectly with the image of a king responding to a beggar. Piety refers to religious devotion, pithy describes speech that is short and meaningful, and privy means having knowledge of something secret. Pride is a feeling of deep satisfaction or self respect, which does not match the tone of concern for a beggar. Therefore, pity is the correct choice.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Understand that the phrase moved with indicates a strong emotion. Step 2: Connect the beggar with feelings of compassion rather than religious devotion or secret knowledge. Step 3: Test each option in the sentence: moved with pity, moved with piety, moved with pithy, moved with privy, moved with pride. Step 4: Recognise that only moved with pity for the beggar sounds natural and conveys the intended meaning.

Verification / Alternative check:
Consider standard collocations: filled with pity, moved with pity, moved to pity are all common expressions. Piety usually collocates with words like religious, devotion, or act, as in a life of piety. Privy normally occurs in phrases such as privy to information. Pithy describes remarks or statements, and pride would be more appropriate when the object is an achievement or personal quality, not a suffering beggar. This confirms pity as the only option that fits both grammar and meaning.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• piety: Refers to religious devotion; the sentence is about emotional compassion, not worship or religious feeling.
• pithy: An adjective meaning brief and full of meaning, usually used about comments or style of speech, not about feelings towards a person.
• privy: Means sharing in a secret or having confidential knowledge; it cannot logically complete moved with privy for the beggar.
• pride: Pride in a beggar would sound odd, and moved with pride suggests self satisfaction, not sympathy.

Common Pitfalls:
Because the options look similar in spelling, some students may confuse pity and piety. It is important to associate pity with compassion and piety with religious devotion. Exam setters intentionally choose similar looking words to test whether you know their precise meanings. Reading widely and paying attention to collocations such as moved with pity helps build strong vocabulary for such questions.

Final Answer:
Correct option: pity.