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Difficulty: MediumModal Auxiliaries and Expressing Modality

The chief safety auditor noted that although the pressure log recorded a sudden drop at midnight, the secondary safety seal remained undisturbed. Consequently, the team concluded that the technician _______ the warning light during the routine walkthrough. Which modal auxiliary phrase correctly completes the sentence to express a logical deduction about a past event?

  1. must have overlookedAnswer
  2. B
    must to have overlooked
  3. C
    should have overlooked
  4. D
    might can have overlooked

Answer

The phrase 'must have overlooked' correctly completes the sentence to express a past logical deduction.
The phrase 'must have overlooked' is correct because the modal construction 'must + have + past participle' is used to draw a strong logical conclusion about an event in the past based on present evidence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence to identify the required modality.
The context provides physical evidence (undisturbed safety seal and pressure drop) leading to a logical conclusion about a past event.
Determining whether the sentence requires capability, obligation, permission, or past logical deduction guides modal verb selection.
2
Evaluate modal structures for past logical deduction.
Past logical deduction is constructed using the modal 'must' + 'have' + past participle of the main verb ('must have overlooked').
'Must' indicates strong certainty, and 'have + past participle' sets the action in past time.
3
Eliminate grammatically invalid structures.
Reject options that insert 'to' after modal verbs or combine two modal verbs together.
Modal auxiliary verbs do not take the full infinitive ('to') and cannot be stacked consecutively.

Key Concept

Modal Auxiliaries for Past Logical Deduction
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Modal Auxiliaries and Expressing Modality

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