The boy must have … the disease from the school.

Step 1: Analyze the question The sentence is "The boy must have ___ the disease from the school." We need the verb that best fits with "disease" and "from the school," meaning he caught the disease there.

Step 2: Explain the concept (collocation) In English, certain words go naturally together. This is called collocation. With illness, the standard verbs are:

• contract a disease (formal, and the most precise)
• catch a cold or disease
• develop an illness

Step 3: Test each option

• A. received: We receive gifts, letters, or messages, not diseases. It is not a natural collocation.
• B. taken: "Taken ill" is an expression, and we "take" medicine. But "taken the disease from the school" is not standard usage.
• C. contracted: This means to become infected with an illness. "Contracted the disease" is a correct and standard collocation.
• D. carried: To carry a disease means to transmit it or harbour it. It does not show that he got it from the school. It fits better with "carried the disease to the school."

Step 4: Answer

Step 5: Exam tip For "disease," "illness," "virus," or "infection," think contract or catch. In WASSCE lexis and structure questions, always look for the word that collocates naturally. Ask yourself, "Which verb would a native speaker normally use with this noun?"