Question: Each of the questions below contains a number of sentences. Each sentence has pairs of word(s)/phrase(s) that are highlighted. From the highlighted word(s)/phrase(s), select the most appropriate word(s)/phrase(s) to form correct sentences. Then, from the options given, choose the best one.
Regrettably[A]/Regretfully[B] I have to decline your invitation. I am drawn to the poetic, sensual[A]/sensuous[B] quality of her paintings. He was besides[A]/beside[B] himself with rage when I told him what I had done. After brushing against a stationary[A]/stationery[B] truck my car turned turtle. As the water began to rise over[A]/above[B] the danger mark, the signs of an imminent flood were clear.
In this set, the last two sentences are the easiest to decide: stationary truck and to rise above are correct uses. The answer choice has to end with AB. Options 1 and 3 are eliminated.
Beside oneself with rage is the correct idiom. Hence, third sentence is B.
Sensuous implies gratification of the senses for the sake of aesthetic pleasure- the sensuous delights of great music. Sensual tends to imply the gratification of the senses or the indulgence of the physical appetites as ends in themselves- a life devoted to sensual pleasures. Poetry is sensuous rather than sensual. Hence, the second sentence is B.
When we decline something we do it regretfully, when someone else has declined we find it regrettable. Hence, the first sentence is B.
Hence, the correct answer is option 2.