Question

Choose the appropriate words to fill in the blanks.

In a case of acute ______, ______ membranes secrete excessive ______.

• A. sinus, mucous, mucous
• B. sinus, mucus, mucous
• C. sinus, mucous, mucus
• D. sinusitis, mucous, mucus

Hint:

Remember that the disease name ends in "-itis" (sinusitis), and mucous is the adjective while mucus is the noun.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

This sentence checks two things at once: knowing that "sinusitis", not "sinus", is the disease, and telling apart "mucous" (the adjective) from "mucus" (the noun).

1. Option 1 (sinus, mucous, mucous): "Sinus" is just the body part, not a disease, so "a case of acute sinus" does not make sense. It also wrongly repeats the adjective "mucous" in the noun's slot.
2. Option 2 (sinus, mucus, mucous): Again uses "sinus" instead of the disease name "sinusitis", and it also swaps mucus and mucous into the wrong slots compared to their grammatical roles.
3. Option 3 (sinus, mucous, mucus): The second and third blanks are correctly ordered here, adjective then noun, but the first blank still wrongly names the body part "sinus" instead of the disease "sinusitis".
4. Option 4, originally E (sinusitis, mucous, mucus): This is the only option that names the disease correctly as "sinusitis", uses "mucous" as the adjective describing the membranes, and uses "mucus" as the noun for what those membranes secrete.

Reading the sentence with this option: "In a case of acute sinusitis, mucous membranes secrete excessive mucus." This is grammatically clean: a disease name, an adjective describing a membrane, and a noun naming the fluid it releases.

Let's summarize:

• Sinusitis is the disease (inflammation of the sinus); sinus is just the hollow space in the skull.
• Mucous is the adjective (mucous membrane); mucus is the noun (the fluid itself).

So the sentence needs sinusitis, mucous, mucus, which is option 4 (originally E).