Multiple choice

Fill blank (i).

Directions: The following passage has some numbered blanks.

Naval architects never (i) ___ that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely (ii) ____ have never (iii) ____. It was well (iv) ____ and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It (v) ____ thoroughly inspected on the day of its (vi) ____ voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so (vii) ____ that most of those (viii) ____, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, (ix) _____ no chance to save themselves. Of those who managed to (x) ____ overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of (xi) _____ before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea.

  1. allege

  2. claim

  3. plead

  4. refute

  5. request
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

To claim is to assert, as a fact. This context refers to ‘naval architects who never assert the fact that a ship is unsinkable’. This means that they never claim that there is such a ship which cannot sink. Thus, here ‘claim’ is the correct option.

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