Late at night, our car ______
- (a)broke down on the highway.
- (b)broke up on the highway.
- (c)broke into the highway.
- (d)broke out on the highway.
Answer
A
Why
Correct — A, broke down on the highway. 'Break down' means to stop functioning, so a car that broke down has stopped running. 'Break up' means to end a relationship or split into pieces, 'break into' means to enter by force, and 'break out' means to escape or begin suddenly — none fits a vehicle that has stalled.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)broke up on the highway. — 'Break up' means to end a relationship or split into pieces, not to describe a vehicle that stops running.
- (c)broke into the highway. — 'Break into' means to enter a place by force, so it cannot describe a car that has stalled.
- (d)broke out on the highway. — 'Break out' means to escape or to begin suddenly (a fire, a war), not for a car that stops working.
Concept
A phrasal-verb item on 'break down' meaning a machine or vehicle stops functioning.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
The photocopier ______ again this morning.
- (a)broke up
- (b)broke down
- (c)broke into
- (d)broke off
Answer(b) broke down — a machine that stops working has 'broken down'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Our bus ______ halfway and we had to walk.
- (a)broke out
- (b)broke down
- (c)broke in
- (d)broke up
Answer(b) broke down — the vehicle stopped running.