All the countries signed the treaty ______
- (a)beneath Germany and France.
- (b)except Germany and France.
- (c)among Germany and France.
- (d)during Germany and France.
Answer
B
Why
Correct — B, except Germany and France. 'Except' introduces the ones left out, so every country signed apart from Germany and France. 'Beneath' means physically under, 'among' means in the middle of a group, and 'during' marks a stretch of time — none can signal an exclusion of two countries.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)beneath Germany and France. — 'Beneath' means physically under something, so it cannot mark two countries left out of the signing.
- (c)among Germany and France. — 'Among' means in the middle of a group, which signals inclusion rather than the exclusion the sentence needs.
- (d)during Germany and France. — 'During' marks a stretch of time, so it cannot take country names or signal an exclusion.
Concept
A preposition item on 'except' marking exclusion — all members but the ones named.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Everyone passed the test ______ Ravi.
- (a)beside
- (b)except
- (c)among
- (d)during
Answer(b) except — it marks the one person left out.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The shop is open every day ______ Sunday.
- (a)except
- (b)among
- (c)beneath
- (d)during
Answer(a) except — Sunday is the day excluded.