Question

he was touched  ? pity when he heard the tale

Answer 1

 

The word ‘touched’ here means ‘feeling emotional about something’. The rule is when we use touched, it is usually followed by ‘by’, for example: ‘We were deeply touched by your concern.’ So here in this sentence the word ‘touched’ should be followed by ‘by’.

The correct answer is: He was touched by pity when he heard the tale.

Answer 2

'Touched' is the key word here, which would mean "emotionally adversely affected'', that is to say " moved" to hear the sorry tale.