The young man looked carefully at the long document, but he couldn't make … what it meant

Analyze the question: The sentence needs a phrasal verb that means "understand" or "work out the meaning of" something. The young man looked at a long document but could not understand what it meant.

Explain the concept: In English, "make" combines with particles to form phrasal verbs with different meanings:

• make up: invent, or form something (e.g., make up a story)
• make out: understand, see, or discern something with difficulty (e.g., I can't make out what he is saying)
• make off: run away quickly (e.g., The thief made off with the money)
• make through: not a standard phrasal verb in this sense

Step-by-step solution:

1. The gap is followed by "what it meant," so we need a verb phrase meaning to understand.
2. Make up would mean "invent what it meant," which doesn't fit.
3. Make off means "escape," which makes no sense here.
4. Make through is not a correct idiom.
5. Make out means "to understand or comprehend," and it is often used in negative sentences like "couldn't make out." This fits perfectly.

Completed sentence: The young man looked carefully at the long document, but he couldn't make out what it meant.

Correct answer: B (out)

Exam tip: "Make out" is commonly used with can't/couldn't to show difficulty understanding something, such as handwriting, a speech, or a document. Whenever you see "couldn't make ___ what...", think out.