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Difficulty: MediumPrepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Complete the sentence below by supplying the most appropriate preposition in the blank space.

Answer:Despite the executive board's enthusiasm for expanding into foreign markets, the chief financial officer remained strongly averse 【to】 taking on additional high-interest bank loans.

Answer

to
The adjective 'averse' (meaning disinclined or opposed) standardly requires the preposition 'to' when introducing the object of disinclination.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the key adjective requiring a dependent preposition in the sentence context.
The adjective needing a specific prepositional complement is 'averse'.
In standard English grammar, certain adjectives strictly collocate with specific prepositions to form grammatical prepositional complement structures.
2
Determine the correct dependent preposition that collocates with 'averse'.
The correct preposition is 'to'.
The expression 'averse to' means having a strong feeling of opposition or antipathy towards something (e.g., 'averse to risk', 'averse to taking on debt').

Key Concept

Adjective + Preposition Collocation (Dependent Prepositions)
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Topics

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

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