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Question

Difficulty: MediumWords Commonly Confused and Homonyms

Complete the sentence below:

The disciplinary committee warned that any student engaging in ______ deals would face severe penalties, as such actions would only ______ negative reactions from the school authorities and the public.

Which of the following word pairs correctly completes the sentence?

  1. illicit / elicitAnswer
  2. B
    elicit / illicit
  3. C
    illicit / illicit
  4. D
    elicit / elicit

Answer

The pair 'illicit / elicit' correctly fills the blanks in the sentence.
The word 'illicit' is an adjective that means forbidden by law, rules, or custom, making it the appropriate choice to describe 'deals'. The word 'elicit' is a verb meaning to evoke or draw out a reaction or response, which correctly completes the predicate clause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the first blank's grammatical role and meaning.
The word modifies the noun 'deals' and must mean 'illegal, forbidden, or unlawful'. The correct word is the adjective 'illicit'.
Contextual meaning requires describing forbidden actions.
2
Analyze the second blank's grammatical role and meaning.
The word follows the modal auxiliary verb 'would' and precedes the noun phrase 'negative reactions'. It requires a verb meaning 'to draw out' or 'evoke'. The correct word is 'elicit'.
Syntactic structure and sentence context demand an action verb of bringing forth a response.

Key Concept

Distinguishing homophones and commonly confused words (illicit vs. elicit)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Words Commonly Confused and Homonyms

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