Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: intention
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This is a sentence completion question that tests collocation, that is, which words naturally go together in English. The sentence describes a situation where Brijesh is under pressure to step down but is not planning to do so. To express that he is not planning to resign, we need a noun that combines naturally with the expression has no and of stepping down.
Given Data / Assumptions:
The sentence provides both context and grammatical clues.
Concept / Approach:
In English, the common collocation for talking about plans or willingness to do something is have no intention of doing something. Intention refers to a plan, purpose, or decision to act. The phrase no intention of stepping down clearly conveys that Brijesh does not plan to resign. The other options, although nouns, do not collocate properly with has no and of stepping down in this context. Our approach is therefore to test each noun in the full phrase and see which one sounds correct and conveys the intended meaning.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by checking standard collocations in English. Phrases like have every intention of staying, have no intention of apologising, and have no intention of retiring are widely used. They all use intention followed by of and a gerund. Although no desire to step down would be grammatically possible, the preposition would change to to and the pattern in the given sentence uses of followed by stepping, so intention is the best fit here. This confirms that no intention of stepping down is the intended and idiomatic expression.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Intuition refers to a strong instinctive feeling about something, not a deliberate plan, so has no intuition of stepping down is incorrect. Point generally refers to a reason or argument and would require a different structure, such as there is no point in stepping down, which is not what the sentence uses. Object can mean goal or purpose in some formal contexts, but the phrase has no object of stepping down is not standard in modern English. Desire is closer in meaning to intention, but the usual structure would be has no desire to step down, not of stepping down, so it does not fit the exact pattern of the sentence.
Common Pitfalls:
Learners often overlook prepositions that follow nouns and guess based only on approximate meaning. Here, noticing the of after the blank is crucial, because it strongly signals the noun intention in this common collocation. Paying attention to entire phrases, not isolated words, helps avoid such mistakes. Building a mental list of frequent pairs like intention of doing, plan to do, and desire to do can improve performance on similar questions.
Final Answer:
The correct word is intention, giving the sentence Brijesh said that he has no intention of stepping down.
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