Fill in the blanks from the given options with the words that are semantically…
2024
Fill in the blanks from the given options with the words that are semantically and syntactically appropriate.
Do you believe ______________ endangers freedom of expression?
- A.
censure ship
- B.
education
- C.
conditioning
- D.
censorship
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A fill-in-the-blank vocabulary item is solved by matching the semantic field of the surrounding sentence to only one option's meaning; words that merely sound similar to the target term but carry a different sense are deliberately included as distractors.
Application: The sentence asks whether something endangers freedom of expression, i.e., threatens people's ability to speak or publish freely. censorship means the official or institutional restriction or suppression of speech, publications, films, or other media considered objectionable — exactly the kind of act that endangers free expression, so it fits the blank precisely.
Contrast — why each other option fails:
censure ship is not a genuine compound word — it joins "censure" (to criticize or formally condemn someone's actions) with the meaningless addition "ship", chosen purely because the pair sounds like the target word; censure itself is about expressing disapproval, not about restricting or blocking anyone's speech.
education is the process of imparting or receiving knowledge and skills — a meaning centred on learning, with no inherent connection to restricting anyone's expression.
conditioning is training a behavioural response through repeated exposure — a meaning about shaping habits, unrelated to suppressing speech or publication.
Because only censorship denotes an act of restricting or suppressing communication, it is the option that correctly completes the sentence.