As the two speakers become increasingly agitated, the debate became _________. A. lukewarm B. poetic C. forgiving D. heated

GATE 2017 · General Aptitude · Word Meaning · medium

Answer: D. heated — an increasingly agitated debate is idiomatically called 'heated' in English.

1. Analyze the causal relationship: Increasing agitation => the debate gets more intense and emotionally charged, not calmer (eliminating lukewarm, poetic, forgiving).
2. Apply collocation knowledge: In English, 'a heated debate/argument' is a fixed collocation meaning an intense, emotion-driven exchange. Agitated speakers produce a heated debate.