Fill in the blank with the correct noun clause:
The shopkeeper’s claim ______ turned out to be false.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → that the phone cover could survive a fall from the terrace
Noun clause in apposition:
- A noun clause in apposition comes right after a noun such as news, fact or claim and tells what that noun is.
- Here the clause tells what the claim was. “That” only joins. The clause after it is complete: “the phone cover could survive a fall from the terrace”.
- Complete sentence: The shopkeeper’s claim that the phone cover could survive a fall from the terrace turned out to be false.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: what the phone cover could survive a fall from the terrace — Incorrect. “What” must do a job inside its own clause, as in “what the shopkeeper said”. Here the clause is already complete, so “what” has no job.
Option 3: that the phone cover surviving a fall from the terrace — Incorrect. “Surviving” is not a full verb. A clause needs a full verb such as “could survive”.
Option 4: of the phone cover could survive a fall from the terrace — Incorrect. “Of” is a preposition. It can be followed by a noun, but not by a full clause with its own verb, “the phone cover could survive”.