From the given alternative words, select the single word which cannot be formed using the letters of the word ENVIRONMENT. Each letter of the base word may be used only as many times as it appears there.

Introduction / Context:
This word formation question uses the base word ENVIRONMENT. You are asked to choose which option cannot be formed from its letters. These questions are designed to check your accuracy in tracking letter presence and letter counts inside a word.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Base word: ENVIRONMENT.
• Options: OINTMENT, MENTOR, VENOM, TRIM, INVENT.
• No new letters may be used that are not in ENVIRONMENT.
• No letter can be used more frequently than it appears in the base word.
• All options use standard English spelling.

Concept / Approach:
The process is as follows:

• List all letters in ENVIRONMENT and count their frequencies.
• For each option, check:
  • Does every letter appear in the base word?
  • Is the required count of each letter less than or equal to the available count?
• If an option demands a missing letter or too many copies of a letter, it cannot be formed.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write ENVIRONMENT and list letters: E, N, V, I, R, O, N, M, E, N, T. Step 2: Count them: E = 2, N = 3, V = 1, I = 1, R = 1, O = 1, M = 1, T = 1. Step 3: Check MENTOR. It needs M, E, N, T, O, R. All these letters appear at least once in the base word, with the required counts within the available totals, so MENTOR can be formed. Step 4: Check VENOM. It needs V, E, N, O, M. The base word provides V = 1, E = 2, N = 3, O = 1, M = 1, so VENOM can be formed. Step 5: Check TRIM. It needs T, R, I, M. Each of these letters appears once in ENVIRONMENT, so TRIM can be formed. Step 6: Check INVENT. It needs I, N, V, E, N, T. That is I = 1, N = 2, V = 1, E = 1, T = 1. The base word has at least these counts, so INVENT can be formed. Step 7: Check OINTMENT. It needs O, I, N, T, M, E, N, T. Required counts are O = 1, I = 1, N = 2, T = 2, M = 1, E = 1. However ENVIRONMENT has T = 1 only. OINTMENT needs T twice, which exceeds the available count of T. Therefore OINTMENT cannot be formed from the base word.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick check is to look for repeated letters that may be in short supply. In ENVIRONMENT, T appears only once. Any option requiring two Ts is immediately suspicious. OINTMENT clearly uses T twice, while other options use T at most once or not at all. Since all other letters in OINTMENT are available in sufficient numbers, the shortage of T confirms that OINTMENT is impossible to form.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
MENTOR uses each of its letters exactly once, all of which are present in ENVIRONMENT. VENOM uses V, E, N, O, and M, which are all available within the required counts. TRIM uses T, R, I, and M, each present in the base word. INVENT uses I, N, V, E, and T, with N repeated twice and all counts supported by the base word.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes overlook the exact count of letters and only check whether they appear once. This is especially risky for letters like T here, which appear only once in the base word. Another mistake is to assume that longer words such as MENTOR or INVENT are automatically impossible, while in fact the real problem may lie in a different option like OINTMENT.

Final Answer:
The word that cannot be formed from ENVIRONMENT is OINTMENT because it requires the letter T twice, while the base word has T only once.