سوال ۳ کنکور ارشد مهندسی کامپیوتر ۱۴۰۴

This vocabulary item hinges on the phrase "operate in some reasonable kind of balance." For two motives to be "in balance," they must pull in opposite directions, so the blank needs an antonym of charitable (generous, directed toward others).

• selfish — concerned only with one's own interest; the natural opposite of charitable. Other-directed (charitable) and self-directed (selfish) motives being held in balance is exactly the idea the sentence expresses.
• obvious, high, prime — none forms a meaningful contrast with charitable, so none yields the "two opposing motives in balance" reading.

The answer is selfish (option 3).

Exam trick: When a sentence says two things are "in balance," the blank usually wants the opposite of the word already given — here, selfish against charitable.