Fill in the blank with the appropriate answer:
The government has created a new system of pension for __________.
Fill in the blank with the appropriate answer:
The government has created a new system of pension for __________.
The correct option is C the old
It is to be noted that adjectives are used commonly to represent nouns in certain sentences. This usage is called ellipses of the noun phrase, wherein the shortening of a noun phrase occurs. The article ‘the’ becomes a crucial addition that converts the adjective into a noun that represents a group in general. Thus ‘the old’ is the apt answer because here ‘the old’ is used to shorten the noun phrase ‘the old people’. Hence option B is correct. Whereas ‘old’ is solely an adjective which cannot complete the meaning of the sentence because it should be filled with a noun. Thus option A is incorrect. Whereas, ‘an old’ cannot be used because the sentence speaks about the system benefiting all the old people, i.e. as a group, while ‘an old’ denotes just one individual. Hence option C is incorrect. Lastly, the answer cannot be ‘young’ because ‘pension’ is issued only for old people. Thus option D is incorrect.
It is to be noted that adjectives are used commonly to represent nouns in certain sentences. This usage is called ellipses of the noun phrase, wherein the shortening of a noun phrase occurs. The article ‘the’ becomes a crucial addition that converts the adjective into a noun that represents a group in general. Thus ‘the old’ is the apt answer because here ‘the old’ is used to shorten the noun phrase ‘the old people’. Hence option B is correct. Whereas ‘old’ is solely an adjective which cannot complete the meaning of the sentence because it should be filled with a noun. Thus option A is incorrect. Whereas, ‘an old’ cannot be used because the sentence speaks about the system benefiting all the old people, i.e. as a group, while ‘an old’ denotes just one individual. Hence option C is incorrect. Lastly, the answer cannot be ‘young’ because ‘pension’ is issued only for old people. Thus option D is incorrect.
