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Question

Difficulty: Very hardCollocations and Fixed Phrases

Which verb correctly completes the fixed English collocation in the sentence below?

Answer:The executive committee was severely criticized for attempting to 【ride】 roughshod over the fundamental rights of the union members during the negotiations.

Answer

The correct verb required to complete the collocation is 'ride'.
The verb 'ride' forms the standard English fixed expression 'to ride roughshod over', meaning to treat someone or something with arrogant disregard. No other verb correctly completes this established idiomatic structure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence and identify the target phrase.
The sentence requires a verb that forms a fixed idiomatic collocation with 'roughshod over'.
English idiomatic expressions rely on fixed lexical pairings that cannot be altered or substituted with near-synonyms.
2
Recall the established fixed phrase in standard English usage.
The correct fixed expression is 'to ride roughshod over', which means to act imperiously without considering the wishes, rights, or feelings of others.
Only 'ride' conventionally collocates with 'roughshod over' to carry this specific figurative meaning.

Key Concept

Fixed Idiomatic Collocations
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Topics

Collocations and Fixed Phrases

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