Fill in the blank with the appropriate answer:
_________ should not be disrespectful.
It is to be noted that adjectives are used commonly to represent nouns in certain sentences. This usage is called ellipses of the noun phrase, wherein the shortening of a noun phrase occurs. The article ‘the’ becomes a crucial addition that converts the adjective into a noun that represents a group in general. Thus ‘The young’ is the apt answer because here ‘The young’ is used to shorten the noun phrase ‘The young people’. Hence option C is correct. Whereas ‘Young’ is solely an adjective which cannot complete the meaning of the sentence because it should be filled with a noun. Thus option A is incorrect. Whereas, ‘A young’ cannot be used because the sentence emphasizes that all young people, i.e. as a group, shouldn’t be disrespectful, whereas ‘A young’ denotes just one individual. Hence option B is incorrect. Lastly, there is no such word as ‘Youngs’. Thus option D is incorrect.