Final answer:
The relationship between 'eel' and 'eels' in the sentence is a word-connotation relationship, using the connotations of 'eel' to describe the character of the banker. Therefore , the correct answer options is c)
Step-by-step explanation:
The relationship between the underlined words in the sentence “The greedy banker was an eel, although eels are perhaps not quite as slimy as he was” is a C. Word-connotation relationship. Here, the comparison between the greedy banker and an eel is not literal.
Instead, it relies on the connotations or associations that the word 'eel' carries, such as being slippery and untrustworthy, to convey a certain characteristic of the banker. This is not an item-category relationship, where one word would be a type of the other, nor a cause-effect relationship, where one word would directly lead to the other.
It's also not a part-whole relationship where one word would be a component of the other.