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English usage – sentence improvement: Select the correct prepositional phrase to complete 'joined the princes … crushing them' in a historically framed sentence.

Difficulty: Easy

into crushing
in crushing
without crushing
No improvement

Correct Answer: in crushing

Explanation:

Given sentence
'… the Protestant leaders joined the princes at crushing them.'

Concept/Approach
The verb 'join' takes the preposition 'in' when followed by a gerund to denote participation in an activity: 'join (someone) in doing (something)'.

Correction
'joined the princes in crushing them.'

Common pitfalls
'at crushing' is unidiomatic; 'into crushing' changes meaning; 'without crushing' negates the action.

Final Answer
in crushing

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