In this sentence completion question, choose the most appropriate adjective to fill the blank in "As the improvement in his situation was ______________, the doctor did not discharge him."

Introduction / Context:

This question checks your ability to choose the most appropriate descriptive word in a medical or formal context. The sentence reads: "As the improvement in his situation was ______________, the doctor did not discharge him." The idea is that the patient s condition has improved only slightly, and therefore the doctor decides he should remain under observation. You must choose the adjective that expresses "only a small improvement" in a formal and natural way.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The sentence describes a patient whose situation has changed only a little.
• The options are marginal, tiny, microscopic, and negated.
• The doctor decides not to discharge the patient due to the limited improvement.
• The style is semi formal, like a report or exam passage.

Concept / Approach:

The key phrase here is "improvement in his situation". In medical or formal English, small positive changes are often described as "marginal improvements". The word "marginal" suggests that the improvement exists but is only at the edge or small in degree, which fits the context perfectly. "Tiny" and "microscopic" are informal or metaphorical ways to say very small, but they do not collocate as naturally with "improvement in his situation" in standard formal writing. "Negated" means cancelled out or made ineffective, which would normally imply no improvement at all rather than a small one.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

Read the full sentence with each option. "As the improvement in his situation was marginal, the doctor did not discharge him." This sounds like a sentence from a medical report or exam passage. "As the improvement in his situation was tiny" is understandable but less formal. "Microscopic improvement" would generally be used jokingly or in a very figurative way. "Improvement was negated" would mean the improvement disappeared, which clashes with the cause and effect relationship expressed in the sentence. The sentence flows best and maintains a professional tone when "marginal" is used.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

"Tiny" and "microscopic" both emphasise smallness but do not fit the tone of a clinical or formal statement as neatly as "marginal". "Microscopic" is strongly tied to visual size, not to degree of change in a situation. "Negated" means cancelled or reversed, suggesting that there is effectively no improvement, which does not support the idea that the doctor observed some change but found it insufficient.

Common Pitfalls:

Students sometimes default to the strongest negative sounding word, thinking that an extreme description must be right. Others may ignore collocation and choose any synonym for "small". However, exam questions often check whether you know the exact expression typically used in formal English, and "marginal improvement" is one such fixed collocation. Always pay attention to how adjectives combine with abstract nouns like "improvement" in real texts.

Final Answer:

The most suitable adjective here is marginal, giving "As the improvement in his situation was marginal, the doctor did not discharge him."