Select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of idioms/phrases. To take the bull by the horns
To deal with a difficult situation
The question tests the idiomatic phrase 'to take the bull by the horns', which cannot be understood from the literal meaning of its individual words.
The image behind the idiom is that of a person grabbing a charging bull directly by its horns instead of running away, i.e. meeting the danger at its most threatening point.
Transferred to everyday use, it means to confront a difficult, risky or unpleasant situation boldly and directly rather than avoiding or postponing it.
The key to such idiom questions is to look for the figurative sense: the phrase describes an attitude of courage towards a problem, not a literal animal or person.
'To deal with a dangerous prisoner', 'a hopeless student' and 'an annoying person' are all literal misreadings that pin the idiom to one specific type of individual, which the expression never does.
Only 'a difficult situation' captures the general, figurative sense of facing a challenge head-on with determination.
Hence, the idiom means To deal with a difficult situation.
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