Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks. Call it a blessing…
2023
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks.
Call it a blessing or a ______ of Mother Nature, we have to breathe in ______ 10,000 litres of air in a day to remain alive. By making it essential for life, God has wished that we try to ______ the air we breathe clean. Everyone can see the food that is not clean and perhaps refrain from eating it, ______ one cannot stop breathing even if one can feel the air to be polluted.
- A.
curse, over, keep, but
- B.
curse, between, keep, because
- C.
curse, over, keeping, yet
- D.
cursing, over, keep, since
Attempted by 10 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Completed sentence: Call it a blessing or a curse of Mother Nature, we have to breathe in over 10,000 litres of air in a day to remain alive. By making it essential for life, God has wished that we try to keep the air we breathe clean. Everyone can see the food that is not clean and perhaps refrain from eating it, but one cannot stop breathing even if one can feel the air to be polluted.
Blank 1 — 'curse': The phrase pairs two nouns ('blessing' and 'curse'). 'Curse' is the correct noun form; 'cursing' would be a verb/gerund and would not match 'blessing'.
Blank 2 — 'over': When referring to an approximate numeric amount, 'over' (meaning 'more than') is appropriate. 'Between' would require specifying two bounds and does not fit the intended meaning.
Blank 3 — 'keep': After 'try to' we use the base form of the verb ('keep'). 'Keeping' would be a gerund and is ungrammatical in this construction ('try to keeping' is incorrect).
Blank 4 — 'but': The final clause expresses a contrast (we can avoid dirty food, yet we cannot avoid breathing). 'But' properly signals this contrast. Words like 'because' or 'since' would indicate a reason rather than a contrast, and 'yet' is possible but less natural here than 'but'.