Q. (3)

Question

Q. (3)

Accepted Answer

1) Location in sentence: The blank marked (3) appears in the clause “How well they are built and operated is ___ (3) ____ to economic growth…”. The structure is subject + linking verb “is” + adjective phrase + preposition “to”. An adjectival complement that commonly collocates with “to economic growth” is required.

2) Grammatical fit: “Crucial” is an adjective that correctly completes the pattern “is crucial to…”. It yields the grammatical construction “is crucial to economic growth,” which is idiomatic and syntactically correct.

3) Semantic fit: The surrounding text emphasizes the large-scale importance of infrastructure for competitiveness and growth (e.g., maintenance backlogs, investment requirements). “Crucial” conveys the necessary sense of being essential or decisive, matching the passage’s claim that infrastructure quality strongly determines economic outcomes. Moreover, the next phrase “and is a key arbiter of an economy’s competitiveness” restates the same idea; “crucial” aligns meaningfully with “key arbiter.”

4) Register and concision: The passage uses formal, economic discourse. “Crucial” is appropriately formal and concise, fitting the tone without introducing unintended nuance (such as triviality, closeness, or indecision).

Taken together, grammatical correctness, idiomatic collocation (“crucial to”), semantic alignment with the surrounding argument, and register all justify selecting “Crucial.”

FINAL_ANSWER: D

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer