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Question

Difficulty: HardCollocations and Fixed Phrases

By launching their innovative renewable energy software three months ahead of schedule, the technology startup managed to ________ a march on its main corporate rivals. Which verb correctly completes the fixed English collocation in this context?

  1. stealAnswer
  2. B
    gain
  3. C
    make
  4. D
    win

Answer

The verb 'steal' correctly completes the fixed collocation 'steal a march on'.
The verb 'steal' is required to complete the recognized idiom 'steal a march on', which describes securing a competitive advantage by acting preemptively.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the sentence context and identify the required idiomatic pattern.
The blank precedes 'a march on its main corporate rivals', indicating a fixed verb-noun-preposition collocation meaning to get ahead of competitors.
English collocations rely on exact, conventionalized word pairings that cannot be altered arbitrarily.
2
Evaluate the candidate options against standard English idiomatic usage.
The standard expression in British and international English is 'steal a march on'. Substitutions such as 'gain', 'make', or 'win' produce non-standard or unidiomatic phrasing.
Fixed phrases do not allow literal synonym replacements, even if the substituted word carries a similar general meaning.

Key Concept

Fixed Verb-Noun Collocations and Idiomatic Expressions
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Collocations and Fixed Phrases

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