Each question below has blanks, each blank indicating that something has been…
2025
Each question below has blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank which best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
That was the chronic shortage _____ specie, particularly ____ the years before the gold discoveries in Portuguese Brazil in 1693.
- A.
of, in
- B.
for, for
- C.
of, for
- D.
for, in
Attempted by 5 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: Some nouns take one fixed preposition to introduce their complement — the specific thing they are about — as a set phrase rather than a general rule (e.g., 'a shortage OF grain', 'a need FOR funds', 'a fondness FOR music'). Separately, referring to a specific, dated stretch of past time uses the preposition of time-location ('IN a stated period/year'), not a preposition of duration or purpose. Both blanks in a sentence like this must be satisfied together — an option that gets only one blank right is still the wrong option.
Application:
First blank — "the chronic shortage ___ specie": 'shortage' is one of the nouns whose complement takes one fixed preposition as a set phrase — 'a shortage OF X' names the scarce item; that is the standard, memorized idiom, not something to derive from a general meaning.
Second blank — "particularly ___ the years before the gold discoveries...in 1693": this places the shortage inside a specific, dated historical stretch, so this blank needs the preposition of time-location, giving "in the years before..." — parallel to the sentence's own later use of "in Portuguese Brazil in 1693".
Testing the pair "of, in" against both requirements: substituting gives "That was the chronic shortage of specie, particularly in the years before the gold discoveries in Portuguese Brazil in 1693," which reads as the natural, idiomatic sentence.
Cross-check:
"for, for" — "for" is not the fixed preposition that pairs with "shortage" to name the scarce item, and it is not the preposition of time-location either, so this pair fails both blanks.
"of, for" — "of" is the correct fixed pairing for the first blank, but "for" in the second blank is not the preposition of time-location this specific historical stretch needs. One wrong blank makes the whole pair wrong.
"for, in" — "in" correctly anchors the second blank to the historical period, but "for" in the first blank is not the fixed pairing "shortage" takes. Again, one wrong blank invalidates the pair.
Only "of, in" satisfies both blanks at once, so this pair is correct.