Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardPrepositions and Prepositional Phrases

After years of working under severe weather conditions in the desert, the geologists had become completely inured _____ the scorching heat. Which preposition correctly completes the sentence?

  1. toAnswer
  2. B
    with
  3. C
    against
  4. D
    at

Answer

The preposition 'to' correctly completes the sentence.
The participial adjective 'inured' fixedly collocates with the preposition 'to' when indicating that someone has become accustomed to unpleasant circumstances or harsh environments.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the target adjective and its semantic context in the sentence.
The word 'inured' means hardened or accustomed to something difficult, unpleasant, or painful.
Determining the meaning of the head adjective helps establish its required dependent preposition.
2
Select the correct dependent preposition that collocates with 'inured'.
'Inured' strictly collocates with the preposition 'to' (e.g., 'inured to hardship', 'inured to pain').
Standard English grammatical conventions dictate specific prepositional complements for participial adjectives.

Key Concept

Dependent Prepositions with Participial Adjectives
Rate this question

Topics

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

More questions from this topic