Select the correct alternative to fill blank (88) in the passage.

Concept

In a cloze passage, the best word must satisfy both grammar and contextual meaning. The verb should take the sentence’s object naturally and describe the event implied by the surrounding details.

Application

The blank is followed by the object ‘the inkpot’, and the phrase ‘by mistake’ signals an accidental action. In this context, ‘upset’ is a transitive verb meaning to knock or turn a container out of its upright position, often causing its contents to spill.

Contrast

• ‘Imported’ concerns bringing something into a country from abroad, which does not describe an accidental action involving an inkpot.

• ‘Carried’ describes holding or moving an object, but it does not explain the accidental mishap that prompts the mother’s remark.

• ‘Dismembered’ means cutting or tearing something into separate parts, a meaning unsuitable for an inkpot in this situation.

Cross-check

Reading the completed clause—‘by mistake she upset the inkpot’—produces a grammatical sentence and the conventional meaning ‘she accidentally knocked the inkpot over.’ Therefore, the required word is ‘upset’.