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Difficulty: MediumIdiomatic Word Choice

Although the remote island had been mapped by early cartographers, it remained largely devoid in human settlement until the mid-nineteenth century, when a group of researchers established a permanent weather station.

Which of the following is the best choice for the underlined portion in the sentence above?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. devoid ofAnswer
  3. C
    devoid from
  4. D
    devoid with

Answer

devoid of
The adjective 'devoid' idiomatically requires the preposition 'of' when describing a complete lack or absence of a characteristic or feature. The correct option provides this standard idiomatic structure, making the sentence grammatically sound.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined phrase and determine the relationship between the adjective 'devoid' and the noun phrase 'human settlement'.
The word 'devoid' requires a specific preposition to link it to its object, 'human settlement'.
Standard English grammar uses specific, fixed prepositions (collocations) after certain adjectives to create idiomatic expressions.
2
Recall the correct prepositional pairing for the word 'devoid' when meaning 'lacking' or 'empty of'.
The correct preposition is 'of', forming the idiom 'devoid of'.
Prepositions like 'in', 'from', and 'with' are idiomatically incorrect when paired directly with 'devoid'.
3
Select the option that replaces the underlined portion with the correct prepositional idiom.
The option containing 'devoid of' is selected.
This substitution corrects the idiomatic error while maintaining the grammatical structure of the sentence.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Preposition Collocation
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Topics

Idiomatic Word Choice

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