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 the sound right after each blank to choose "a" or "an", and recall the fixed phrase "look up at" someone or something.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

This question tests two things together: choosing "a" versus "an" based on the sound that follows it, and picking the right connecting words so the sentence reads naturally.

1. an; a; at; and: This reverses the articles. "Pit" starts with a consonant sound and needs "a", not "an", so this option fails at the very first blank.
2. a; an; and; at: "A" fits "pit" (consonant sound), "an" fits "elephant" (vowel sound), "and" correctly joins "bewildered" and "miserable" as two adjectives in a list, and "at" completes "look up at a crowd". Every blank checks out.
3. and; a; an; at: Starting the sentence with "and" before "pit" makes no sense, since the sentence needs an article there, not a linking word.
4. at; a; an; and: Using "at" as the first blank before "pit" is meaningless for the same reason, an article is needed, not a preposition.

Only the second choice keeps every blank grammatically sound: a pit, an elephant, bewildered and miserable, look up at a crowd.

Let's summarize:

• Use "a" before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound.
• Two adjectives describing the same noun are joined with "and".
• The set phrase tested here is "look up at", not "look up to" or "look up on".

So the correct sequence of words is "a; an; and; at", option (B).