Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumIdiomatic Expressions in Context

Instead of accepting responsibility for the inventory discrepancy during the quarterly audit, the warehouse manager tried to pass the buck by blaming the newly hired supply clerks. Which of the following is the closest meaning of the bolded phrase?

  1. A
    Transfer physical currency between departments
  2. Shift responsibility or blame to someone elseAnswer
  3. C
    Acknowledge and resolve the administrative error
  4. D
    Promote lower-level staff to managerial roles

Answer

Shift responsibility or blame to someone else
The context contrasts accepting responsibility with blaming subordinates. In this context, 'pass the buck' means shifting the blame or duty to another person.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the sentence for contextual and contrast clues
Identified the introductory contrast phrase 'Instead of accepting responsibility' and the explanatory action 'by blaming the newly hired supply clerks'.
Contextual clues clarify how the subject acted when confronted with an error.
2
Deduce the figurative meaning of the idiomatic expression
Determined that 'pass the buck' means to evade accountability by deflecting blame onto another party.
The idiom functions figuratively rather than referring to physical objects or currency.
3
Evaluate the answer choices against the deduced meaning
Matched 'Shift responsibility or blame to someone else' as the accurate definition.
This choice precisely captures the evasion of responsibility described in the scenario.

Key Concept

Determining the figurative meaning of an idiom using sentence-level contrast and explanatory context clues.
Estimated Time:45s
Rate this question

Topics

Idiomatic Expressions in Context

More questions from this topic