Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable option:
P: Is this ________ book you were telling me about?
Q: Yes. it is about _______ life of Queen Victoria.

• A. a / the
• B. the / the
• C. a / a
• D. no articles
  

Answer 1

The correct option is B the / the

The word 'a' is an indefinite article. It is used for nouns that are not specific/particular. For e.g. 'a man'.
The word 'the' is a definite article; it modifies a noun that is specific, a noun whose identity is made known. For e.g. 'the man in black'.
In the given conversation, the noun 'book' is a particular book that the subject Q was talking about. Hence, we use the article 'the'.
The noun 'life' is also specific, because it is the life of Queen Victoria. The identity of the noun 'life' is made known using the proper noun Queen Victoria. Hence, we use the article 'the' in the second blank too.
This combination 'the, the' is used only in option B, hence B is correct.
Options A and C: We can't use 'a' for the nouns 'book' and 'life' for the same reason: the nouns are specific.
Hence options A and C are incorrect.
Option D: An article is not required when the noun is non-count or it's spoken of in general sense. Since both nouns here are clearly identified, we require articles and option D is incorrect.