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Difficulty: HardPrepositions and Prepositional Phrases

The investigative panel noted that leaking confidential executive files prior to the hearing would be highly prejudicial _____ the proceedings and completely subversive _____ established board protocol. Which pair of prepositions correctly completes the sentence?

  1. A
    against / to
  2. to / ofAnswer
  3. C
    for / about
  4. D
    toward / for

Answer

The pair 'to / of' correctly completes the sentence because 'prejudicial to' and 'subversive of' are the fixed, standard prepositional collocations.
The correct option provides the exact prepositional collocations required by the adjectives: 'prejudicial to' means harmful or damaging to an outcome, and 'subversive of' means seeking to undermine an established authority or protocol.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the dependent preposition required by the formal adjective 'prejudicial'.
In formal academic and legal contexts, 'prejudicial' requires the preposition 'to' when taking an object (e.g., prejudicial to the proceedings).
Adjectives denoting harm or detriment, such as 'prejudicial', 'inimical', and 'detrimental', grammatically govern 'to'.
2
Identify the dependent preposition required by the adjective 'subversive'.
The adjective 'subversive' requires the preposition 'of' when followed by a noun phrase complement (e.g., subversive of protocol).
Adjectives and nouns indicating destruction, undermining, or overthrowing typically collocate with 'of'.

Key Concept

Dependent prepositions following adjectives of impact and subversion
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Topics

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

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