In this passage based cloze test, choose the most suitable phrase to fill the blank in "heavy rainfall in a ____________ has created paralysing floods" so that the sentence about monsoon floods becomes natural and meaningful.

Introduction / Context:
This cloze test continues the passage about a vigorous monsoon and its impact on several Indian states. The sentence focuses on how heavy rainfall over a limited period produced paralysing floods. The blank must be filled with a phrase that correctly describes a limited duration of time in a formal, written style suitable for a newspaper editorial or report.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• The fragment is "From Assam to Karnataka, heavy rainfall in a ____________ has created paralysing floods". • The options are "short span of time", "very quickly", "short moments", and "fraction of a second". • The overall tone is serious and formal, typical of editorial writing.

Concept / Approach:
The phrase should highlight that the flooding resulted from intense rainfall concentrated in a relatively brief period, not spread evenly across the season. The expression "in a short span of time" is widely used in formal English to indicate such a limited duration. It functions grammatically as a noun phrase after the preposition "in", whereas the other options either do not fit the structure or are stylistically inappropriate for describing floods.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Insert "short span of time": "heavy rainfall in a short span of time has created paralysing floods". This sounds natural and grammatically correct. Step 2: Try "very quickly": "heavy rainfall in a very quickly has created..." This is grammatically wrong because "very quickly" is an adverbial phrase and cannot directly follow "in a". Step 3: Try "short moments": "heavy rainfall in a short moments has..." The article "a" clashes with the plural "moments", and the phrase is awkward. Step 4: Try "fraction of a second": "heavy rainfall in a fraction of a second has created..." This suggests an impossibly tiny time frame for flood producing rainfall, which is unrealistic for the context. Step 5: Conclude that "short span of time" is the only option that is both grammatically correct and contextually appropriate.

Verification / Alternative check:
If we read the entire sentence with the chosen phrase, it becomes: "From Assam to Karnataka, heavy rainfall in a short span of time has created paralysing floods that have taken a heavy toll of life, wiped out crops and destroyed hard earned assets." This reads smoothly and exactly describes how concentrated rainfall can trigger floods. The other options either break the structure or exaggerate the timeline in a way that does not match natural descriptions in serious articles.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
"Very quickly" is an adverbial phrase and cannot work in the pattern "in a ...". The grammar is incorrect. "Short moments" would require "in short moments" without an article, and even then it is not a standard phrase in this context. "Fraction of a second" is used for extremely brief events like flashes of light, not for rainfall patterns significant enough to cause major floods.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes choose very dramatic sounding phrases such as "fraction of a second" to make the situation appear more intense, but exam setters are checking for realistic and idiomatic usage, not drama. Another trap is to ignore the surrounding grammar and select an option purely based on meaning. To avoid such mistakes, always test the option inside the sentence, checking both sense and structure before finalising your answer.

Final Answer:
The correct phrase to fill the blank is short span of time.