Direction: Choose the correct meaning of the underlined phrase/idiom from the…

An idiom is a fixed expression whose overall meaning cannot reliably be worked out from the literal meaning of its individual words; it instead carries a conventional sense, recorded in standard dictionaries, that speakers use consistently in context. The verb phrase "learn the ropes" (also "know the ropes") is one such idiom; it originates from sailors learning to handle a ship's ropes and rigging.

In the given sentence, "The new employee is still trying to learn the ropes in the office," the phrase describes the new employee's ongoing effort to become familiar with the workplace's tasks, procedures, and routines — in other words, to understand how to do the job.

• "Avoid responsibilities" names deliberately shirking or dodging assigned duties, not the act of acquiring a new skill.

• "Teach others" names passing knowledge outward to someone else — the reverse direction of what a newcomer does.

• "Change the rules" names altering existing procedures or regulations, not learning them.

Independent check: substituting the plain-English gloss — "is still trying to understand how to do her job in the office" — into the original sentence preserves its meaning, confirming this sense of the idiom.

So "learn the ropes" means to understand how to do a job.