Choose the option that best completes the gap(s) His car ____ of fuel so he arrived late for the meeting.

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "His car ____ of fuel so he arrived late for the meeting." The word "of" already appears right after the gap, so we need to choose the option that fits with it.

Explain the concept

The phrasal verb here is "run out of", meaning "to use up the whole supply of something."

• "We ran out of sugar."
• "The car ran out of fuel."

The word "of" belongs to the phrasal verb. In this sentence, "of" is already printed after the gap, so the gap needs only "ran out".

Step-by-step solution

1. Take option A: "His car ran out of fuel..." → "ran out of fuel" ✔ correct.
2. Take option B: "His car ran out of of fuel..." → "of" is repeated ✘.
3. Take option C: "His car ran out on of fuel..." → ungrammatical ✘. ("Run out on someone" means to abandon them.)
4. Take option D: "His car ran on out of fuel..." → wrong word order ✘.

Answer

The correct option is A. ran out.

Tip

Always read the words printed around the gap before choosing. If a preposition such as "of" is already in the sentence, don't pick an option that repeats it. Option B is the trap here, because "ran out of" is the full phrasal verb but would double the "of."