She … as a very intelligent person.

Analyze the question The sentence is "She __ as a very intelligent person." We need a phrasal verb that means "gives an impression of being" or "appears to others as".

Explain the concept The phrasal verb "come across as" means to give a particular impression to other people. It is always followed by "as" plus a description.

• He comes across as very confident.
• She comes across as friendly.

Check each option

• A. comes in means to enter, or to arrive. "Comes in as" would not describe an impression, so it does not fit.
• B. comes about means to happen. For example, "How did the change come about?" It cannot be followed by "as a very intelligent person."
• C. comes up means to arise or to be mentioned. For example, "The topic came up in class." It does not fit here.
• D. comes across is followed naturally by "as" and means to give an impression. This fits perfectly.

Solution "She comes across as a very intelligent person." means that she gives people the impression of being very intelligent.

Tip: In WASSCE lexis and structure questions, whenever you see "as + a description of a person" after a blank, think of come across as (gives the impression of). Learn related phrasal verbs too: come across can also mean "find by chance" (I came across my old textbook).