Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence: You must adapt with the situation.
- (a)to the situation
- (b)the situation
- (c)adapt to the situation
- (d)by the situation
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The trigger is the verb adapt. You adapt to a situation, a place or a change, so 'adapt with' is the fault.
The keyed phrase restores the right preposition and gives the corrected verb phrase in full: You must adapt to the situation → option (c).
The key counts 'adapt' as part of the phrase being replaced; see the note on the key.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)to the situation — To the situation has the right preposition but no verb. On the key's reading 'adapt' is part of the replaced phrase, so this leaves 'You must to the situation'. See the note on the key.
- (b)the situation — Dropping the preposition fails on either reading: 'You must the situation' has no verb, and 'adapt the situation' would mean altering the situation itself, not adjusting to it.
- (d)by the situation — By marks an agent or a means, as in 'a novel adapted by its author'. Adjusting yourself to circumstances takes to, whichever words the replacement covers.
Concept
Some verbs fix the preposition that follows them. Adapt, in the sense of adjusting yourself, takes to: adapt to a new job, adapt to the climate. Adjust to and get used to work the same way.
With no preposition, adapt means changing something to suit a new use: the novel was adapted for television.
In a replace-the-highlighted-part item, find the faulty word first. Then drop the option in place of the highlight and check that a complete sentence remains.
The response sheet highlights only with the situation; 'adapt' sits outside the highlight.
The keyed phrase fits only if the replacement covers 'adapt with the situation'. Dropped in place of the printed highlight, it would repeat the verb: 'You must adapt adapt to the situation'.
Key facts
- Adapt to + noun: adjust to new conditions, as in adapt to a new environment.
- Adapt + object, with no preposition: change something to suit a new use, as in the novel was adapted for television.
- Comply takes with: comply with the rules.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing 'by the situation' because being shaped by circumstances sounds close in meaning.
- Picking an option without reading it back into the sentence: check exactly which words the highlight covers.
'Adapt to' sits in the stem of a synonym item at 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.8: 'It takes time to adapt to a new environment', keyed Adjust.
English Q.8 of this sitting tests another verb's fixed preposition: employees must comply with the revised code of ethics.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.