He told a story about his sister who was in a sad ______ when she was ill and had no money.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】 名词词义辨析。句中提及他的妹妹生病且没钱，由此推知，处境应该是悲惨的。选项中A选项“plight(困境)”符合句意，意为“陷入了悲惨的境地”。polarization“分化”，plague“瘟疫、天灾”，pigment“色素，颜料”，都与句意不相符。故答案为A。