Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: not
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This cloze item tests a very common correlative structure in English: not just A, but also B. The sentence describes how the photo album lets you revisit more than just the obvious things like people, places, and ages. It extends the meaning to the hidden corners of memory. Therefore, the blank before just people should be filled by the first part of this paired structure, making the entire phrase not just people and places and ages, but the hidden crannies of your own memory.
Given Data / Assumptions:
- The fragment to complete is lets you revisit blank just people and places and ages, but the hidden crannies of your own memory.
- The options are nor, none, no, and not.
- The phrase continues with but, suggesting a contrast or extension.
- We look for a word that naturally forms a correlative pair with but in this context.
Concept / Approach:
In English, writers often use the pattern not just A, but B to emphasise that there is more than the basic element. Here, A is people and places and ages, and B is the hidden crannies of your own memory. The word that completes the pair is not. The word nor is used in neither nor structures. None is a pronoun, and no is a determiner used before nouns, but they do not fit in this correlative phrase in the given sentence.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Insert nor: revisit nor just people and places. This is ungrammatical, since nor is not used this way.
Step 2: Insert none: revisit none just people and places. This does not create any known structure.
Step 3: Insert no: revisit no just people and places. This combination is incorrect and awkward.
Step 4: Insert not: revisit not just people and places and ages, but the hidden crannies of your own memory. This is a clear and common structure.
Step 5: Recognise the full expression not just A, but B, which is widely used in English writing.
Step 6: Conclude that not is the correct choice.
Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by writing the full correlative phrase: The book talks not just about history, but about culture as well. This is directly parallel to the sentence in the passage. Replacing not with any of the other options breaks the correlative relation and produces either nonsense or a completely different meaning. Therefore, the only word that both fits the structure and preserves the intended emphasis is not.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, nor, is wrong because it is used with neither, as in neither A nor B, not with just and but.
Option B, none, is wrong because it is a pronoun used independently, not as part of this correlative linking pattern.
Option C, no, is wrong because it is placed before nouns to mean not any, and it cannot combine with just in this position.
Common Pitfalls:
A common confusion arises between not and no. Both are negative words, but they serve different grammatical roles. Not often modifies verbs or adjectives and forms part of multiword structures like not only, not just, but also. No directly modifies nouns, as in no time or no money. Remembering which one appears in fixed expressions like not just A, but B will help you avoid errors in cloze passages and sentence completion questions.
Final Answer:
The correct answer is not.
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