The government cannot … the decision any longer.

Analyze the question: The sentence is "The government cannot ....... the decision any longer." The phrase "any longer" tells us the government has been delaying the decision, so we need a phrasal verb meaning to delay or postpone.

Explain the concept (phrasal verbs with "put"):

• put on – to wear, or to stage something (e.g., put on a play)
• put off – to postpone or delay (e.g., "Don't put off your revision.")
• put up – to erect, to lodge someone, or to tolerate (e.g., put up a building, put up with)
• put back – to return something to its place, or to reschedule to a later time (e.g., "put the clock back")

Solution, testing each option:

• A. "cannot put on the decision" – meaningless in this context.
• B. "cannot put off the decision any longer" – correct. It means the government can no longer delay or postpone the decision.
• C. "cannot put up the decision" – does not make sense.
• D. "cannot put back the decision" – "put back" can mean to delay, but it is normally used for events or schedules (e.g., "the meeting was put back to Friday"). It is not the natural collocation with "decision". The standard, idiomatic phrase is "put off a decision".

Tip: Remember "put off = postpone". Signals such as "any longer", "again", or "till tomorrow" often point to delaying. A good memory line is: "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."