1). Excellence in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by

1.	1). Excellence in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by ribald labour.2). A burst of applause greeted the performance of this ribald parody of the popular play.3). He spoke in a ribald manner, and was evidently an educated man.4). I believe it is often the best wisdom to be ribald and let God be our eyes as well as our shield.
Answer» Let's look at the meaning of the word: RIBALD- RUDE or irreverent, often referring to sexual matters in a crude and amusing manner. Out of the given sentences, only SENTENCE 2 can be contextualy CORRECT, as it uses the word 'ribald' for the PARODY of a play. None of the other sentences use the word in a contextually correct way. Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.

1). Excellence in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by ribald labour.2). A burst of applause greeted the performance of this ribald parody of the popular play.3). He spoke in a ribald manner, and was evidently an educated man.4). I believe it is often the best wisdom to be ribald and let God be our eyes as well as our shield.

Answer»

Let's look at the meaning of the word:

RIBALD- RUDE or irreverent, often referring to sexual matters in a crude and amusing manner.

Out of the given sentences, only SENTENCE 2 can be contextualy CORRECT, as it uses the word 'ribald' for the PARODY of a play.

None of the other sentences use the word in a contextually correct way.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.