Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each statement should…

Concept

In a sentence-completion (cloze) item, the correct phrase must pass two tests together: it must be the kind of object the sentence's verb can naturally take (a grammatical/collocation fit), and its content must connect logically to the surrounding context.

Application

The verb here is "approved", which normally takes an action, rule, policy, or decision as its object — not a poll or survey result. Three of the four phrases describe poll or rating results (a ballot-test percentage, a set of approval-rating reviews, a confidence-survey result), none of which a president "approves" in this sense. Only the phrase about new rules for US officials to travel to Taiwan names a policy action, which is exactly the kind of object "approved" takes. This phrase also fits the surrounding context: the stem says China demanded the US "correct its mistake" because of the action Trump approved, and new rules opening official US-Taiwan contact are precisely the sort of policy Beijing — which treats Taiwan as its own territory — would protest.

Cross-check

Reading the completed sentence together confirms the fit: "China on Sunday called on the United States to 'correct its mistake' after President Donald Trump approved new rules allowing top-level US officials to travel to Taiwan to meet with their Taipei counterparts" reads as a coherent, grammatically sound news report.

Why the other phrases don't fit

• The ballot-test phrase reports a poll percentage — not the kind of object "approved" takes — and it has no link to China or Taiwan.

• The opioid-epidemic-review phrase reports approval-rating scores — again not the kind of object "approved" takes — and it has no link to China or Taiwan.

• The economy-confidence-survey phrase reports survey data — again not the kind of object "approved" takes — and it has no link to China or Taiwan.