Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 3.

The correct answer is 'Retaliate'.

Key Points

• According to the passage, the law doesn't identify discourtesy as a criminal offence. It is likely to prevail if a person is in unpleasant circumstances due to someone else. 
• Let us refer to this line from the passage, "and if I am physically assaulted, it will permit me to ___(3)___ with reasonable violence".
• From the above sentence, it can be deduced that the law allows a person to attack reasonably in self-defence under unfavourable circumstances.
• In option 1, 'retaliate' means to make an attack in return for a similar attack.
• So, 'retaliate' is the correct word for blank no. 3.

So, the correct sentence is - and if I am physically assaulted, it will permit me to retaliate with reasonable violence.

Additional Information

•  Let us look into the meanings of other words:
  • Intolerant: unable or unwilling to endure.
  • Ravaging: affecting destructively.
  • Earnest: a serious and intent mental state.

Alternate Method

• In the given sentence, the blank is preceded by 'to' which is a part of the infinitive.
• In infinitive, 'to' is always followed by the base form of verb. So, the word to be filled in the blank should be a verb in the base form.   
• In the options, 
  • Retaliate - Verb
  • Intolerant - Adjective
  • Ravaging - Adjective
  • Earnest - Noun/Adjective
• So, 'retaliate' is the correct word.