Question

The British government __________ terrified of offending ______ ally in Washington.

• A. are, its
• B. is, their
• C. is, our
• D. is, its

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

To solve the given sentence completion question, let's analyze the sentence structure and the context:

The British government __________ terrified of offending ______ ally in Washington.

1. The phrase "The British government" refers to a singular entity. Hence, the correct form of the verb in this case should be 'is' rather than 'are'. This narrows down our options to those starting with 'is'.
2. The second blank needs a possessive adjective that correctly matches with the singular noun 'government'. The possessive adjectives that can be used in English are 'its', 'his', 'her', 'our', or 'their'. Out of the given options, 'its' is the correct form for a singular, non-human entity like 'government'.
3. By process of elimination:
   • Option: are, its - Incorrect, as 'are' is not suitable for a singular subject.
   • Option: is, their - Incorrect, 'their' is used for plural subjects.
   • Option: is, our - Incorrect, 'our' implies first-person plural ownership, which does not match the context of the sentence.
   • Option: is, its - Correct, as both 'is' matches the singular subject and 'its' is the correct possessive adjective.

Thus, the completed sentence is: The British government is terrified of offending its ally in Washington.

Therefore, the correct answer is: is, its.