The nurse tried to ____ the patient's concerns.

The nurse tried to ____ the patient's concerns.

• A. sympathize with
• B. have confidence in
• C. adept in/at
• D. familiar with

Answer: (A)

The main idea is choosing a way to respond that shows understanding and care for someone’s feelings. Sympathize with means to feel or express a shared sense of concern, showing empathy toward the patient’s worries. That fits the sentence because the nurse is aiming to acknowledge and comfort the patient’s concerns, not merely trust them or indicate a skill or familiarity. Having confidence in the concerns would imply trusting the concerns themselves, which isn’t the action of addressing or comforting them. Adept in/at describes being skilled, not performing the act of addressing concerns. Familiar with describes awareness or knowledge, and would require a different construction (like familiarizing oneself with) to fit here.

The main idea is choosing a way to respond that shows understanding and care for someone’s feelings. Sympathize with means to feel or express a shared sense of concern, showing empathy toward the patient’s worries. That fits the sentence because the nurse is aiming to acknowledge and comfort the patient’s concerns, not merely trust them or indicate a skill or familiarity.

Having confidence in the concerns would imply trusting the concerns themselves, which isn’t the action of addressing or comforting them. Adept in/at describes being skilled, not performing the act of addressing concerns. Familiar with describes awareness or knowledge, and would require a different construction (like familiarizing oneself with) to fit here.