Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks. She was listening to…
2025
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks. She was listening to _____ radio when _____ power went out in _____ house.
Answer: B. the; the; the — ConceptEnglish marks a noun with one of two article types. The indefinite articles "a" and "an" introduce a singular countable noun that the listener cannot…
- A.
a; a; the
- B.
the; the; the
- C.
an; the; a
- D.
a; an; the
Attempted by 38 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
English marks a noun with one of two article types. The indefinite articles "a" and "an" introduce a singular countable noun that the listener cannot yet identify, and the choice between them follows sound: "a" before a consonant sound, "an" before a vowel sound. The definite article "the" is used when the noun is already identifiable to both speaker and listener - because it is unique, because the shared situation makes it obvious, or because a fixed expression demands it.
Application
listening to _____ radio - with the mass media English uses a fixed expression: one listens to the radio and hears something on the radio. "A radio" would name one physical set rather than the broadcast being heard, which is not what the sentence describes, so this blank takes "the".
_____ power went out - "power" here is the electricity supply of that place. It is uncountable, so no indefinite article can precede it, and the supply is a single thing both speaker and listener identify from the shared situation, so this blank takes "the".
in _____ house - the phrase points to the particular house in which the failure happened, a house the speaker treats as already fixed for the listener by the shared situation rather than one being introduced for the first time. Being identifiable in that way, this blank takes "the" as well.
Cross-check
Candidate phrase | How it fares against the article rules |
|---|---|
"a radio" | Well formed on the sound rule, but it names one physical receiver rather than the broadcast that "listening to _____ radio" describes. |
"an radio" | Breaks the sound rule, because "an" is used before a vowel sound while "radio" begins with a consonant sound. |
"a power" | Breaks the countability rule, because "power" in the sense of electricity supply is uncountable and takes no indefinite article. |
"an power" | Breaks the sound rule and the countability rule at the same time. |
"a house" | Well formed on the sound rule, but it introduces a house as new information, while the sentence treats the house as already fixed by the situation. |
Each blank therefore passes the identifiability test that "the" requires, and no blank passes the test that an indefinite article requires.
Result: all three blanks take the definite article - she was listening to the radio when the power went out in the house.