Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
He took a __________ of cigarettes out of his pocket.
A) Block
B) Dozen
C) Packet
D) Parcel
E) Piece

Answer 1

Hint: It is a collective noun. Collective noun refers to a group of things, birds, animals or people. Fit the appropriate collective noun to obtain the right answer.

Complete answer:
Let us analyze the given options
Option A) Block - ‘He took a block of cigarettes out of his pocket’ is an incorrect answer. Cigarettes do not come in blocks.
Option B) Dozen - ‘He took a dozen cigarettes out of his pocket’ is an incorrect answer. It is not necessary that he should take only a dozen from his pocket and the option is inappropriate.
Option C) Packet - ‘He took a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket’ is the correct answer. It is the appropriate collective noun to complete the sentence.
Option D) Parcel - ‘He took a parcel of cigarettes out his pocket’ is an incorrect answer. It is not necessary to state that cigarettes come in parcels and hence the option is inappropriate.
Option E) Piece - ‘He took a piece of cigarettes out his pocket’ is an incorrect answer. Cigarettes come as a whole and the word cigarettes is in plural form, and ‘piece’ is in singular form. Hence it is grammatically incorrect and inappropriate.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Since the answer is of a collective noun, it is specific for each. For eg: swarm of bees, flock of birds, litter of puppies. Hence for cigarettes, ‘packet’ is the appropriate word.