Select the correct alternative for blank (89).

Concept: how a meaning-based cloze blank is decided

A verb that has to fill a blank in a passage is settled by two properties of the verb itself, stated independently of any particular sentence: its semantic force, that is, the attitude it attributes to the speaker, such as persuasion, praise, disapproval or assertion; and its complement pattern, that is, what kind of object or preposition completes it and what sort of adverb can grade it. The candidate whose force matches the attitude the passage reports, and whose pattern fits the words already present in the sentence, is the one that belongs in the blank.

Application to this passage

1. The passage first reports an accident: while searching for something, 'by mistake she (88) ____ the inkpot'.

2. The mother's quoted words are an exclamation about what that accident has produced, 'What a royal (90) ____ you have made', so she is commenting on the damage, that is, reacting with disapproval rather than with praise or with a demand.

3. Her reaction is graded by the adverb 'mildly', so the verb in the blank must name something whose intensity can be softened; only a verb of reproach can be dialled down in that way.

4. The verb also takes 'her' directly as its object, so the pattern required is verb followed by a person.

5. The verb that means 'to express disapproval of a person for a fault', takes a person as its object, and is regularly graded by adverbs such as mildly, gently or sharply, is rebuked. Blank (89) is therefore rebuked.

Contrast with the other choices

• cajoled: to bring a person round by coaxing or flattery; the attitude is ingratiating and the aim is to obtain agreement, which is not what an exclamation about an upset inkpot conveys.

• celebrated: to honour a person or mark an occasion with praise; the attitude is congratulatory, the opposite of the disapproval the quoted remark carries.

• insisted: to maintain or demand something firmly; it is completed by 'on' something or by a 'that' clause, so it cannot take 'her' as a direct object here.

Cross-check

Read the completed clause back: 'Mother rebuked her mildly.' The adverb grades the severity of the reproach, the object 'her' names the person reproached, and the quoted exclamation supplies the fault being reproached; all three slots are filled consistently, which none of the other three verbs manages.