Fill in the blank with most appropriate collocation:
She _ the table before dinner.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer
set
Explanation
The sentence describes the routine act of arranging plates, utensils, and glasses on a table in preparation for a meal. To solve this quickly for an exam, identify the specific collocation (words that habitually go together) used for this action.
In English, the standard idiomatic phrase for preparing a dining table with tableware is always "set the table".
While words like "prepared," "made," and "arranged" make logical sense, they do not form the standard, natural collocation that native speakers use for this specific household chore. Therefore, Option 3 is the correct choice.
Key Points
Correcting collocation errors requires identifying standard, fixed word pairings that naturally run together in everyday language usage.
The verb 'set' is the grammatically and idiomatically mandatory pairing when referring to arranging items on a dining table before a meal.