Question

Choose the best word or phrase to complete the sentence.
To everyone’s surprise, the kid who couldn’t get through high school went ___________to become the biggest businessman for the century.
A) Away
B) On
C) Off
D) by

Answer 1

Hint: In the given question we have to fill in the blank from the given options such that the meaning of the sentence is correct as well as the sentence is grammatically correct.

Complete answer:
Let us first understand the use of the given words before choosing the correct answer:
A) Away - It functions as an adverb, adjective or noun. As an adverb it implies ‘at a distance’. As an adjective it implies ‘ absent from somewhere or not present’ . As a noun it implies ‘ some place’.
B) On - It functions as a preposition, adverb and an adjective. As a preposition it indicates ‘a position which is above or on top of something or someone’. As an adverb it modifies the verb such as put on, turn on etc. As an adjective it indicates ‘ the quality of being engaged in some activity’ e.g. The t.v. is on.
C) Off - It functions as an adverb, a preposition or an adjective. As an adverb it implies ‘ to not be supporting, doing or covering anymore’ for e.g. took off, pulled off etc. As a preposition it implies ‘disconnect’ for e.g. he went off. As an adjective it implies ‘not good, weird, not sane’ for e.g. Her mood is off.
D) By - It functions as a preposition and as an adverb. As a preposition it indicates ‘means of realising something or the agent of realizing something’. As an adverb it indicates ‘past or beyond’ for e.g. passed by, taken by etc.

Now, let us understand the words by putting them in the context of the sentence-
i) Went away- it means to leave a place
ii) Went on - it means to do something after another
iii) Went off - it means to explode or break suddenly with loud noise
iv) Went by - it means to pass as in time or person

The correct answer is ‘on’. It is the most relevant option. Therefore, the complete sentence will be “ to everyone’s surprise, the kid who couldn’t get through high school went on to become the biggest businessman for the century. Here ‘on’ functions as a preposition.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: On as a preposition can also be used for indicating days, dates, holidays, special occasions. In the above answer ‘on’ indicates an abstract position which is on the top of the previous position.