Choose an appropriate idiom to complete the sentence.
I realised that if we _____ we could make the last 200 miles to Jaipur within our deadline.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → got cracking
To get cracking means to start working or moving quickly and with energy. The speaker realised that if they started at once and hurried, they could cover the last 200 miles in time. The past form "got" fits the conditional "if we got ..., we could make ...".
Example: We have a lot to finish before lunch, so let's get cracking.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: take a crack — Incorrect. To take a crack at something means to make an attempt at it; it needs "at" and an object, and it says nothing about hurrying.
Example: Let me take a crack at this puzzle.
Option 3: fall through the crack — Incorrect. To fall through the cracks means to be missed or neglected by a system; it is the opposite of reaching a goal in time.
Example: Some poor students fall through the cracks and never get a scholarship.
Option 4: paper over the cracks — Incorrect. To paper over the cracks means to hide a problem instead of solving it; it has nothing to do with travelling quickly.
Example: The new rules only paper over the cracks in the system.