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Difficulty: Very hardPrepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Complete the sentence below by filling in the blanks with the appropriate prepositions.

Answer:Rather than supporting the organization's overarching mission, the project manager's controversial proposal was deemed inimical 【to】 long-term institutional stability and executed in total defiance 【of】 established policy.

Answer

The first blank requires 'to' (inimical to) and the second blank requires 'of' (in defiance of).
The correct prepositions are 'to' and 'of'. The formal adjective 'inimical' requires the dependent preposition 'to' (e.g., 'inimical to growth'). The multi-word prepositional idiom indicating open resistance is fixed as 'in defiance of'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the dependent preposition required by the adjective 'inimical'.
The adjective 'inimical' strictly takes the preposition 'to' when describing something adverse or harmful.
In standard English grammar, adjectives expressing hostility or opposition take specific prepositional complements ('inimical to').
2
Identify the standard preposition completing the complex prepositional phrase 'in defiance _____'.
The correct fixed prepositional expression is 'in defiance of'.
The noun 'defiance' in this idiomatic phrase collocates specifically with 'of' to signify disregard or resistance.

Key Concept

Dependent Prepositions and Fixed Prepositional Phrases
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Topics

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

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