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Difficulty: MediumIdioms and Idiomatic Expressions

When the corporate audit revealed severe financial discrepancies, the chief executive officer attempted to pass the buck to the junior accounting team. Which of the following options best expresses the meaning of the underlined idiomatic expression?

  1. A
    transfer monetary funds directly to another person
  2. shift the responsibility or blame to someone elseAnswer
  3. C
    promote lower-level staff to management positions
  4. D
    accept full personal liability for the administrative failure

Answer

shift the responsibility or blame to someone else
The idiomatic expression 'pass the buck' means to attribute blame or responsibility to someone else in order to avoid taking accountability oneself. In the given sentence, the executive attempts to avoid blame for audit discrepancies by blaming junior accountants.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the idiomatic expression in the stem.
The chief executive officer is facing an audit report containing financial errors and reacts by redirecting attention to junior staff.
Understanding the situational context helps distinguish figurative intent from literal phrasing.
2
Determine the established figurative meaning of 'pass the buck'.
The idiom 'pass the buck' means to shift blame, duty, or responsibility onto another person to avoid consequences.
Idioms possess fixed figurative meanings that cannot be deduced from literal word-for-word translations.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Interpretation in Context
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Topics

Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

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