Final answer:
The homeowner's failure to repair a broken step or warn a guest, leading to an injury, is an unintentional tort classified as negligence.
The correct option is b.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scenario described involves a homeowner who does not repair a broken step, nor warns a guest about it, leading to the guest's injury. This situation is best categorized as an unintentional tort (negligence) rather than an intentional tort like assault or battery, or a specific professional misconduct like malpractice.
Negligence occurs when someone fails to take reasonable care to prevent harm, which seems to be the case here. The homeowner's failure to fix the step or to alert the guest about the hazard suggests a breach of the duty of care owed to the guest. Since the homeowner's action was not done with the intention to harm, it does not constitute battery or assault, and because it doesn't involve professional services, it isn't malpractice.