In the sentence "The Government offered him clerical job but he turned it over", which underlined part contains the error in standard idiomatic usage?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of phrasal verbs in the context of job offers and rejections. The sentence The Government offered him clerical job but he turned it over contains a phrasal verb that is not idiomatically correct for rejecting an offer. You must decide which part of the sentence is wrong according to standard English usage.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Sentence fragments: The Government offered him (A) / clerical job (B) / but he turned it over (C) / No error (D).
• Intended meaning: the Government offered him a clerical job, but he refused or rejected that offer.
• Standard phrasal verb for rejecting an offer is turn down, not turn over.

Concept / Approach:
The phrase turn down is used when someone refuses an offer or request. For example, He turned down the promotion means he rejected it. Turn over, however, has different meanings, such as to flip something to the other side, or in some contexts to transfer control. In this sentence, part C uses turned it over, which does not convey the intended meaning of refusal. Therefore, part C contains the main idiomatic error.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify what the subject did with the offer. The context suggests he refused the job.Step 2: Recall that the phrasal verb for refusing an offer is turn down an offer.Step 3: Compare this with part C, turned it over, which usually means to flip or hand something to someone, not to refuse it.Step 4: Check parts A and B: The Government offered him and clerical job, which, aside from a missing article, are structurally acceptable and not the main focus of this phrasal verb question.Step 5: Conclude that part C is where the idiomatic error lies, and therefore that is the part which must be marked as incorrect.

Verification / Alternative check:
Rewrite the sentence correctly: The Government offered him a clerical job, but he turned it down. This version communicates clearly that he rejected the offer. If we instead say he turned it over, the sentence becomes confusing, as it may suggest he physically turned some item over or transferred it to someone else, which does not match the expected meaning. This confirms that the issue is with the phrasal verb in part C.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Part A, The Government offered him, correctly uses the verb offered with an indirect object. Part B, clerical job, should ideally be a clerical job with an article, but exam questions sometimes focus on only one central idiomatic error, and the key point here is the phrasal verb. Part D, No error, is incorrect because there is clearly an error present. Among the given labelled parts, part C best represents the tested concept and must be chosen.

Common Pitfalls:
Phrasal verbs are a major source of difficulty, since small changes in the particle, such as down, over, up, or off, can change the meaning completely. Learners sometimes rely on literal translations or guess that any combination will work, which leads to errors like turned it over instead of turned it down. A good strategy is to study phrasal verbs in fixed collocations, such as turn down an offer and turn over a page, so that you remember which particle goes with which meaning.

Final Answer:
The incorrect expression is but he turned it over in part C, which should be turned it down, so option C is correct.