Question

Fill in the blank using a meaningful phrase:
An owl hooted in the ruins when the lights _______.
a) Went away
b) Went off
c) Went out
d) Went over

Answer 1

Hint: A phrase is an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us have a phrase which has a particular meaning apart from the literal meaning of the words that make it up.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'went away', refers to going away. Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as ‘lights going away’ does not make sense.
Option (b.), ‘went off', refers to the past tense of ‘go off’ which means to stop running, functioning, or operating. Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as putting this option in the blank does not make sense.
Option (c.), ‘went out', refers to the past tense of ‘go out’ which means to become extinguished. Therefore, option (c.) is correct as it correctly describes how the lights turned off and the owl hooted.
Option (d.), ‘went over', refers to the past tense of ‘go over’ which means to examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition. Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as putting this option in the blank does not make sense.

Note:
 In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall that a phrase can also be an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up; similar to idioms.