Question

In the mentioned sentence, three possible substitutions are given for the underlined part. Choose the option that is better than the underlined part.
 He was asked to arbitrate with two merchants in a dispute.
A) To arbitrate
B) To arbitrate at
C) To arbitrate between
D) No improvement

Answer 1

Hint: While framing a sentence in the English language, apt phrases and usages are to be included to convey the actual meaning of the sentence. The substitutions are to be included so that the basic idea of the sentence doesn’t change.

Complete answer:
Verbs are any words that show action or the occurrence of any activity. The word arbitrate is a verb. The meaning to which is to arrive at a judgment or to settle for something.
Here in the sentence C given he was asked to arbitrate with two merchants in a dispute. Thus seeing the actual meaning of arbitrating, the merchant was asked to arrive at a decision or judgment between the two merchants. Thus the most appropriate substitution for the underlined sentences “to arbitrate between” the two merchants, since he was asked to choose “between” the two merchants in a dispute.

Considering the other given options:
A.“To arbitrate at”, is not an appropriate substitute since it does not provide a chance of comparison between two values, and refers to only a single subject. Since here the decision is to be made between two vendors, the usage is not a correct substitution.
B.“To arbitrate” is also not a correct substitution since this does not indicate what to compare with.
D.“No improvement” is not grammatically or meaningfully correct thus it cannot be used as a substitute.
From the other given options, C is the most appropriate substitution, for the phrase “to arbitrate with” is “to arbitrate between”.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: While substituting a phrase with another, it must be grammatically as well as meaningfully correct. The phrases should be replaced, with phrases giving the same meaning with the proper grammar usage. The most common words used while substituting can be either, some, both, a little, and much more. Many times pronouns are the word substituted by the nouns as well as prepositions.