Question

Choose the best word or phrase which best completes the sentence.
She used to ___________ her living by delivering vegetables to college hostels.
A) Earn
B) Gain
C) Get
D) Win

Answer 1

Hint: In the above question we have to identify the word from the given options which best complete the sentence such that the sentence is grammatically correct. The sentence is to be completed in a manner such that it means that the girl or woman pays for/meets her daily necessities by doing the job of delivering vegetables to college hostels.

Complete answer:
Let us first try to understand the meaning of the given options-
A) Earn- to receive money by doing a job or to achieve something through hard work. Earning does not necessarily have to be monetary. It can also be something in intangible forms such as love, respect, blessings etc.
B) Gain - It means ‘to increase’. This increase is primarily associated with positive aspects i.e. it is an increase in something that is beneficial for us. We will not say gain in ‘miseries’ because misery is a negative emotion so we will use ‘increased miseries’ instead. Also, Gain implies betterment and improvement such as gain in weight.
C) Get - to receive, have or buy something. It may refer to something we need or maybe something we deserve. For e.g. Rani got a medal. Or The pain he has got is due to his karma.
D) Win- it means to achieve success or to succeed because of giving the best performance; victory.

The correct option is option A. It is so because there is no set parameter mentioned in the sentence through which we can tell if there was any gain so option B is incorrect. Similarly, she is not buying her living so option C is also incorrect and there is no competition therefore option D is also incorrect.

Therefore the complete sentence will be ‘She used to earn her living by delivering vegetables to college hostels.’

Note: Earn is a verb and since the verb is an action word thus it is the most relevant to this sentence. The action of earning is accomplished by doing another action of delivering vegetables.