Final answer:
The term that is said to "make the heart grow fonder" in the context of lack or deficiency is 'absence'. The correct answer to the question is option (a) Absence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phrase “makes the heart grow fonder” is associated with the term absence. In this context, a lack or deficiency that makes the heart grow fonder refers to the emotional longing one experiences when someone they care about is not present. The correct answer to the question would be option a) Absence. While the other options, scarcity, shortage, and deficit, can certainly represent types of lack or deficiency, they do not fit the proverbial statement. Additionally, a deficit can refer to b) the annual budget shortfall between revenues and expenditures or a) the overall amount owed by government for past borrowing. Scarcity, on the other hand, relates to the fundamental economic problem of having limited supplies to meet unlimited wants and demands.