Question

Fill in the blank with the right choice of word.
The crew of the air balloon ____ the sandbags to help the balloon rise over the hill.
a. capsized
b. jettisoned
c. salvaged
d. augmented
e. enumerated

Answer 1

Hint: Verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence. It is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence.

Complete solution:
In the given question, the crew of the air balloon did something to the sandbags kept in it to help the balloon rise. This means that the crew removed the sandbags from the balloon so that they could lose weight and the balloon could rise up.

Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question:
Option (a.), 'capsized', refers to overturning accidentally.
Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as the crew intentionally removed the sandbags, not accidentally, as they had a purpose (to make the balloon rise).

Option (b.), ‘jettisoned', refers to throwing away something encumbering from an airborne vehicle.
Therefore, option (b.) is correct as the crew removed the sandbags by throwing them from the balloon.

Option (c.), ‘salvaged', refers to saving from ruin, destruction, or harm.
Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as the crew did not save the sandbags, they threw them away.

Option (d.), ‘augmented', refers to - added to or made greater in amount or number or strength.
Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as the crew did not add the sandbags, they threw them away.

Option (e.), ‘enumerated', refers to determining the number or amount of something.
Therefore, option (e.) is incorrect as the crew did not count the sandbags, they threw them away.

Note: In this type of question, before selecting the right option you need to envisage the sentence in the question to get an image of what even occurred in the sentence. This will help you to realize what action occurred, and then you can find the synonym of that in the options given in the question