The old couple were not rich themselves, but they hated to turn away a

The old couple were not rich themselves, but they hated to turn away anyone who were____ food and shelter.

at the mercy of

on the point of

with the exception of

in need of

答案及解析：本题考查介词词组词义辨析D选项，句意：那对老夫妻自己并不富有，但他们不却不愿拒绝帮助那些需要食宿的人。“in need of”含义为“需要……”综上，D选项正确。A选项，“at the mercy of”含义为“在……支配中”，故排除。B选项，“on the point of”含义为“正要……时……”，故排除。C选项，“with the exception of”含义为“除……之外”，故排除。故正确答案为D项。