Crafting Vocabulary and Sentence Variety: Question 2
Syllabus W3
Read the sentence below, which has a gap where a verb has been removed.
"The exhausted hikers ______ up the final slope as the storm closed in overhead."
Which option is the most precise verb to fill the gap, given the hikers' exhaustion and the effort of the climb?
Show worked solution Hide worked solution
Worked solution
Assessment focus
This tests whether a candidate can distinguish a genuinely precise word from vaguer or simply incorrect alternatives, by checking that the chosen verb fits every detail of the context, here, both the physical action (climbing a slope) and the hikers’ state (exhausted).
Why C is correct
“Trudged” specifically means to walk slowly and with heavy effort, as if very tired. It captures both the climbing action and the exhaustion mentioned in the sentence in a single precise word, doing work that an adjective alone would have to do separately.
Why the distractors are wrong
- A (went) is far too general. It tells the reader almost nothing about how the hikers moved or how they felt.
- B (skipped) actively contradicts the context: skipping suggests lightness and energy, the opposite of “exhausted.”
- D (walked) is not wrong, exactly, but it is neutral and plain. It does not add any sense of effort or tiredness the way “trudged” does.
Mark scheme
- 1 mark for selecting C.
- 0 marks for any other option. No partial credit, since this is a discrete single-answer selection question.