Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.
The Director pointed out in favour of the manager that the profitability of the planet had ____ since he had taken over.
a) arisen
b) increased
c) developed
d) declined

Answer 1

Hint: An adjective is a word that expresses an attribute of something. An adjective is the word class that qualifies nouns.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us is positive in nature (as support is positive) and is an adjective that describes how the plant’s profitability became more in amount.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'arisen', refers to a verb which means to ‘come into existence; take on form or shape.’ Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as it does not indicate that the plant’s profitability became more.
Option (b.), ‘increased', refers to ‘made greater in size or amount or degree’. Therefore, option (b.) is correct as it describes how the plant’s profitability became more in amount.
Option (c.), ‘developed', refers to being changed over time so as to be e.g. stronger or more complete or more useful. Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as it does not indicate something more in amount.
Option (d.), ‘declined', refers to a word that is negative in nature. Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect.

Note:
 In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of verbs. A verb is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence. A verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence.