Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of correct preposition use in formal English, especially in a legal or argumentative context. Many competitive exams include items where different parts of a sentence are labelled and you have to choose which segment contains an error. Here the sentence describes a woman trying to cite a precedent in support of her case, and the key idea is the standard expression used with the noun "support".
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The key concept here is the correct collocation and preposition that follow the expression "in support". In formal English, the standard phrase is "in support of something", not "in support for something". We also need to confirm that the rest of the sentence does not hide any other grammatical errors, such as verb form or article misuse.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Read the full sentence smoothly as one unit: "Could she cite any precedent in support for her case".Step 2: Examine part A, "Could she cite", which is grammatically correct. The modal "could" and base verb "cite" are used properly.Step 3: Examine part B, "any precedent in support". This segment is fine so far; "cite any precedent in support" is acceptable as the beginning of a fixed expression.Step 4: Examine part C, "for her case". When combined with the previous words, we get "in support for her case", which is not the standard phrase in English.Step 5: Recall that the idiomatic collocation is "in support of her case". Therefore, the preposition "for" is incorrect here and should be replaced by "of".Step 6: Conclude that the error lies in part C, because that is where the wrong preposition appears.
Verification / Alternative check:
We can test the sentence by rewriting it in a more natural way. The correct version is "Could she cite any precedent in support of her case". This sounds natural, is commonly used in legal and academic contexts, and follows the collocation "support of". There is no problem with subject verb agreement, articles, or tense elsewhere, which confirms that part C alone contains the error.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A ("Could she cite") is correct because the modal "could" correctly introduces a polite question about ability or possibility, and "cite" is the proper verb used with "precedent".
Option B ("any precedent in support") is correct because "any precedent" is grammatically sound, and "in support" begins an idiomatic phrase that will be completed by the correct preposition "of".
Option D ("No Error") is incorrect because we have already identified an error in part C; therefore the sentence cannot be error free.
Common Pitfalls:
A very common mistake in such questions is to focus only on obvious errors like tense or subject verb agreement and ignore collocations and fixed expressions. Learners may also think that "in support for" is acceptable because "for" often follows "support" in other structures. However, when the phrase is "in support", the natural pattern is "in support of", not "in support for". Another pitfall is to assume that if a phrase sounds somewhat familiar, it must be correct, which is not always true in standard exam English.
Final Answer:
The part containing the error is segment C, so the correct answer is "C".
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