Question

'People are crowding around pit into which elephant has fallen. I have never seen an elephant looking more bewildered miserable. Here it is in a most undignified position, thrust into a pit and made to look up a vast, curiosity-stricken crowd.'
Choose the option with the correct sequence of words to fill the blanks.

• A. an; a; at; and
• B. a; an; and; at
• C. and; a; an; at
• D. at; a; an; and

Hint:

Check "a" vs "an" against the sound of the very next word, then remember the fixed phrase "look up at."

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

This passage tests basic article use (a/an) along with a simple joining word and a preposition tied to a phrasal verb. Reading the sentence slowly and filling each blank one at a time, rather than checking whole options first, makes the pattern clear.

1. an; a; at; and: This puts "an" before "pit," but "pit" begins with the consonant sound /p/ and needs "a," not "an." This option is wrong from the very first blank.
2. a; an; and; at: This puts "a" before "pit" (correct, consonant sound) and "an" before "elephant" (correct, vowel sound). It then uses "and" to join the adjectives "bewildered" and "miserable" (correct) and "at" to complete "look up at a crowd" (correct). Every blank checks out here.
3. and; a; an; at: This starts with "and" before "pit," which makes no grammatical sense in that position; a joining word cannot substitute for an article there.
4. at; a; an; and: This starts with "at" before "pit," again nonsensical, since a preposition cannot fill the article slot before a plain noun like "pit."

Only the second option keeps every blank grammatically sound: the right article before "pit," the right article before "elephant," "and" linking two adjectives, and "at" completing "look up at."

Let's sum up:

• Use "a" before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound, checking "pit" and "elephant" individually.
• "Bewildered and miserable" needs a simple joining word, and "look up at" is a fixed phrasal verb, not "look up and" or anything else.

The correct sequence is "a; an; and; at," option (B).