Select the most appropriate synonym of the underlined word.

No one was prepared for the environmental calamity that hit the town in the middle of the night.

Catastrophe

The most appropriate synonym of the underlined word calamity is catastrophe.

• Calamity means a disaster or a very serious problem.
• Catastrophe means a sudden, widespread disaster that causes great damage or loss of life.

The two words are similar in that they both suggest the idea of a serious event that causes a lot of damage or loss of life. However, the word calamity has a more general meaning, while the word catastrophe has a more specific meaning that is focused on a sudden and widespread disaster.

In the sentence "No one was prepared for the environmental calamity that hit the town in the middle of the night," the speaker is not just saying that there was a lot of damage, but that there was a sudden and widespread disaster that caused a lot of damage and loss of life. Therefore, the word "catastrophe" is the most appropriate synonym for the word "calamity" in this context.

The other words on the list are not as appropriate synonyms for calamity. The word damage means to cause injury or harm to something, the word degradation means the process of becoming worse, and the word stress means a state of mental or emotional tension. These words do not convey the same sense of a serious event that causes a lot of damage or loss of life as the word calamity.