For these questions, choose the option that best complete the gap(s) It is impossible to say whether ......Ola and her sister will be offered jobs by the firm.

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "It is impossible to say whether __ Ola and her sister will be offered jobs by the firm."

We need a word that fits before "Ola and her sister" and works with "whether."

Explain the concept

• both ... and is a correlative pair. It joins two people or things and means "the two together."
• either ... or and neither ... nor need "or" or "nor", not "and".
• each does not combine with "and" in this way.

So, because the sentence uses "and" (Ola and her sister), the matching partner is both.

Step-by-step solution

1. The sentence has two subjects joined by "and": Ola and her sister.
2. The word before them must pair with "and." The only pair with "and" is both ... and.
3. Test each option: • A. "whether both Ola and her sister will be offered jobs" is correct. It means we cannot say if the two of them will get the jobs. • B. "whether either Ola and her sister" is wrong, because "either" needs "or". • C. "whether each Ola and her sister" is ungrammatical. • D. "whether neither Ola and her sister" is wrong, because "neither" needs "nor" and it creates a double negative with "impossible to say whether".

Answer: The correct option is A. both.

Exam tip

Memorize the correlative pairs:

• both ... and
• either ... or
• neither ... nor
• not only ... but also

When you see "and" after the gap, think both. When you see "or", think either. When you see "nor", think neither.