Question

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Three big fat rats once found a new use for _____1_____ tails. During the night, they came ______2_____ into the larder and found a jar with treacle in it. But the jar had a ____3___ neck, and try as they might, the rats could not reach the treacle either with their mouths or their paws. At last, a bright idea ______4______ one of them. He climbed onto the jar and let his tail hang down into the treacle. Then he pulled it out nicely coated with treacle and allowed the two rats to lick it _____5_______. Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.

• A. at
• B. by
• C. in
• D. off

Answer 1

Answer:

D. off

• Physical Action: The rat's tail is "coated with treacle" (a thick, sticky syrup). To eat the syrup, the other rats must remove it from the surface of the tail using their tongues. Removal Logic: In English, the preposition "off" is used to indicate removal from a surface. Therefore, to "lick something off" means to remove a substance from a surface by licking it. Grammar Check: They are not licking at the tail (which implies just touching it) or in the tail; they are cleaning the treacle off the tail.