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Difficulty: MediumIdiomatic Prepositions

Read the sentence below and answer the question that follows.

Under the terms of the updated institutional protocol, external audit teams are strictly precluded with accessing confidential participant data without prior clearance from the ethics board.

Which choice provides the idiomatically correct preposition to complete the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. precluded fromAnswer
  3. C
    precluded against
  4. D
    precluded towards

Answer

The correct option replaces the underlined portion with 'precluded from', establishing the proper prepositional idiom required after the verb 'preclude'.
The verb 'preclude' means to prevent or make impossible, and in standard English grammar, it idiomatically pairs with the preposition 'from' followed by a gerund (e.g., 'precluded from accessing'). The phrasing 'precluded from' is the only option that adheres to standard idiomatic conventions.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the base word requiring an idiomatic prepositional complement.
The target word in the underlined portion is the past participle verb 'precluded'.
English idiomatic conventions dictate specific preposition choices for particular verbs.
2
Determine the correct idiomatic preposition paired with 'preclude'.
The verb 'preclude' idiomatically requires the preposition 'from' (e.g., 'precluded from accessing').
Verbs meaning to hinder, prevent, or forbid consistently pair with 'from'.
3
Evaluate the options to select the correct replacement.
Replacing 'precluded with' with 'precluded from' makes the sentence idiomatically and grammatically sound.
The other prepositional options ('with', 'against', 'towards') violate standard English conventions.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Prepositions
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Topics

Idiomatic Prepositions

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