Choose the correct word from the options and fill in the blank:
Due to the scorching heat, the plants in this area__________ quickly.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → wither
Complete sentence: Due to the scorching heat, the plants in this area wither quickly. The scorching heat makes the plants dry up quickly, so the blank needs this verb.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) weather | mainly a noun meaning the condition of the atmosphere, as rain, heat or wind, and as a verb it means to come safely through a difficulty (neither sense describes plants drying up in the heat) | The weather is pleasant today. |
| (2) whether | a conjunction that introduces a choice between alternatives (it cannot be the verb of the sentence) | I do not know whether he will come. |
| (3) wither (answer) | to become dry, shrunken and lifeless, as plants do in great heat or without water (weather, whether, wither and whither sound alike: weather is the state of the air, whether introduces a choice, wither is to dry up, whither means to which place) | The flowers withered in the afternoon sun. |
| (4) whither | an old-fashioned adverb meaning to which place (it is not a verb) | Whither are you going? |