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Difficulty: MediumIdioms and Idiomatic Expressions

Complete the sentence below by providing the correct word to form a meaningful idiomatic expression.

Answer:The financial director attempted to 【throw】 cold water on the proposed expansion plan, citing high inflation rates and unpredictable market trends.

Answer

The word 'throw' (or 'pour') correctly completes the idiomatic expression 'throw cold water on', which means to discourage or damp enthusiasm for a plan.
The idiomatic expression 'throw cold water on' (or 'pour cold water on') means to criticize or discourage a plan/idea so that people lose enthusiasm for it. In the given context, the financial director tried to discourage the expansion plan.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence to determine the intended meaning.
The financial director is expressing skepticism and discouraging a business expansion proposal.
The sentence specifies reasons like inflation and market instability which justify damping enthusiasm for the project.
2
Identify the standard English idiomatic phrase corresponding to this meaning.
The established idiomatic phrase is 'to throw cold water on' (or 'to pour cold water on').
Idioms are fixed word combinations whose meanings are non-literal and convention-bound.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Expressions - Standard Verb Collocations
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Topics

Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

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