In each of the following questions, a sentence with four highlighted words is…
2024
In each of the following questions, a sentence with four highlighted words is provided. These highlighted words may be either misspelled or used inappropriately. Select the incorrect word as the answer, and if all the highlighted words are correct in spelling and usage, choose ‘All are correct’ as answer.
Because we did nothing but sit in the hotel room, our vaccation was vapid and uninteresting.
Answer: A. vaccation — ConceptIn a spotting-error task, scan each highlighted word against two independent standards: (1) spelling — is the word formed with the dictionary-correct…
- A.
vaccation
- B.
vapid
- C.
hotel
- D.
uninteresting
- E.
All are correct
Attempted by 11 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
In a spotting-error task, scan each highlighted word against two independent standards: (1) spelling — is the word formed with the dictionary-correct sequence of letters, and (2) usage — does the word fit the meaning the sentence requires. A word fails if it breaks EITHER standard. Only the word that breaks one of these is the answer; if every highlighted word passes both, the answer is the catch-all choice.
Application
Test each highlighted word in turn:
vaccation — the dictionary spelling of the noun meaning a holiday is vacation (one c, from Latin vacare, ‘to be empty/free’). The doubled ‘cc’ here is a spelling error.
vapid — correctly spelled; it means dull, flat or lacking interest, which fits a holiday that was boring.
hotel — correctly spelled and the ordinary word for the lodging described.
uninteresting — correctly spelled (prefix un- + interesting), and it accurately describes a dull holiday.
Cross-check
Exactly one highlighted word breaks a standard: vaccation is misspelled. The other three are sound in both spelling and meaning, so ‘All are correct’ cannot apply. The required answer is the misspelled word, vacation written as vaccation.