WAEC 2017 English Language · Question 20

The spectators had endure the heat …

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences. The spectators had endure the heat _____

A.as they could
B.as best as they could
C.as best they could
D.as they could best

Answer: C. as best they could

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question

The sentence is "The spectators had to endure the heat __." (the "had endure" is most likely a typo for "had to endure"). We need the correct idiomatic expression meaning "as well as they were able to."

Explain the concept

The idiom is "as best one can", meaning "in the best way possible." Grammatically:

"as best they could" is the standard, accepted idiom.
"as best as they could" is wrong because it mixes two structures: "as well as they could" and "as best they could." You cannot use "as...as" with "best."
"as they could best" has wrong word order.
"as they could" alone is incomplete in meaning, because it doesn't convey "in the best way."

Step-by-step solution

Test A, "as they could": it is grammatical but incomplete in idiom, and it is not the standard expression the question tests.
Test B, "as best as they could": it has a double comparison ("as best as"), which is incorrect.
Test C, "as best they could": it is the correct idiom, so the sentence reads "The spectators had to endure the heat as best they could."
Test D, "as they could best": the word order is unnatural and wrong.

Answer: C. as best they could

Tip: Remember that "best" already carries the idea of comparison, so it does not need a second "as." Compare:

as well as they could ✔
as best they could ✔
as best as they could ✘

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