Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardIdiomatic Word Choice

Although the talented young software engineer was eager to explore new career opportunities in the fast-paced tech industry, the strict terms of his initial employment contract precluded him to accept any position at a competing firm for at least one year. Consequently, he decided to focus his energy on developing his own independent mobile applications while waiting for the non-compete clause to expire. This strategic decision ultimately allowed him to launch a successful startup of his own.

Which choice is the most appropriate option to replace the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    precluded him of accepting
  3. precluded him from acceptingAnswer
  4. D
    precluded him with accepting

Answer

precluded him from accepting
The correct choice is 'precluded him from accepting' because the verb 'preclude' idiomatically requires the preposition 'from' followed by a gerund (verb-ing). In the context of the sentence, the non-compete contract prevented the engineer from taking a new job, which is correctly expressed as 'precluded him from accepting' rather than using an infinitive or an incorrect preposition.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main verb and its idiomatic requirements in the underlined portion.
The verb is 'precluded'.
Different verbs require specific prepositions and verb forms to be idiomatically correct.
2
Determine the correct preposition and grammatical structure that follows 'preclude'.
The verb 'preclude' must be paired with 'from' followed by a gerund (the -ing form of a verb).
Using an infinitive or incorrect prepositions violates standard English idiomatic usage.
3
Evaluate the options to find the one that matches this required structure.
The option 'precluded him from accepting' matches the correct idiomatic pattern.
This option corrects the preposition and verb form while maintaining standard grammar and context.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Prepositional Collocations with Verbs
Rate this question

Topics

Idiomatic Word Choice

More questions from this topic