Find the synonym of the underlined word.
In spite of the medical advances of recent years, AIDS is basically as fatal as ever before.
a. Curable
b. Painful
c. Deadly
d. Disabling
e. Long-lasting

Hint: If there are two words that mean the same, they are synonyms. For example, we can say that it was a fantastic idea. At the same time, we can say that it was a splendid idea. Fantastic and splendid are synonyms.

Complete answer:
We have to find the synonym of the underlined word ‘fatal’. Fatal means deadly. Something which is fatal is very dangerous. A disease is fatal when it can take the lives of people. Option c is ‘deadly’. Thus, the correct option is c.
Let us look at the options:
Option a is ‘curable’. Curable means something which can be cured. If AIDS was to be curable, the term ‘In spite of’ would not have been used. Thus, the usage of curable makes no sense in the given sentence. Option a is wrong.
Option b is ‘painful’. It means something which causes pain. Though it may be a prospective answer, it is not appropriate. Thus, option b is incorrect.
Option d is ‘disabling’. It is another perspective answer because disabling means something that prevents a person from doing something that others can do. However, AIDS as a disease does not really disable someone. Therefore, it is not an appropriate synonym in the context of the sentence.
Option e is ‘long-lasting’. It means something which lasts for a long time. It is not a correct answer because the meaning of fatal is deadly and not long-lasting.

Note: It is important to know the correct meaning of every word to identify the correct synonym. As it can be seen, words such as painful and long-lasting also seem to be correct but it is wrong because they are not at all similar to the word fatal.