Analyzing the Passage and Blank 1

The passage describes an evening spent at a historic location in Juneau after a day of bear sightings and experiencing the wild. The sentence containing blank (1) is: "To close the day on a high note, we decided to spend the rest of (1) ______ evening at a 100-year-old historic watering hole in downtown Juneau."

We need to select the most appropriate word to fill blank (1) from the given options to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. The blank precedes the noun "evening" and indicates possession or association with the subject "we".

Examining Options for Blank 1

Let's look at the provided options:

• theirs: This is a possessive pronoun, used to indicate something belongs to "them". Example: "The book is theirs." It replaces a noun phrase, so it cannot directly precede a noun like "evening".
• their: This is a possessive determiner (or possessive adjective), used before a noun to show that something belongs to "them". Example: "their car". This refers to possession by a group of people other than "we".
• ours: This is a possessive pronoun, used to indicate something belongs to "us" (we). Example: "The house is ours." Like 'theirs', it replaces a noun phrase and cannot directly precede a noun like "evening".
• our: This is a possessive determiner (or possessive adjective), used before a noun to show that something belongs to "us" (we). Example: "our home". This correctly refers to possession or association with the subject "we".

Determining the Correct Word for Blank 1

The sentence starts with "we decided to spend the rest of...". The evening being referred to is the evening of "we". Therefore, we need a word that shows possession or association by "we".

Comparing the analysis of the options:

• 'theirs' and 'ours' are possessive pronouns and cannot modify a noun directly.
• 'their' is a possessive determiner modifying a noun, but it refers to 'them', not 'we'.
• 'our' is a possessive determiner modifying a noun and refers to 'we'.

The word that fits grammatically and relates the evening to the subject "we" is 'our'. The phrase "the rest of our evening" correctly indicates the remaining part of the evening belonging to or being spent by "we".

Let's insert 'our' into the sentence:

"To close the day on a high note, we decided to spend the rest of our evening at a 100-year-old historic watering hole in downtown Juneau."

This sentence is grammatically correct and makes perfect sense in the context of the passage.

Conclusion for Blank 1

Based on the grammatical function and context, the most appropriate option for blank No. 1 is 'our'.

Revision Table: English Possessives

Additional Information: Understanding Possessive Determiners and Pronouns

Possessive words in English show ownership or a close relationship. It's important to distinguish between possessive determiners (like 'my', 'your', 'his', 'her', 'its', 'our', 'their') and possessive pronouns (like 'mine', 'yours', 'his', 'hers', 'its', 'ours', 'theirs').

• Possessive Determiners: These act like adjectives and always come before a noun. They modify the noun to show who it belongs to. Examples: 'my phone', 'her book', 'our car', 'their house'. In the blank (1) of the passage, we needed a word before the noun "evening", indicating possession by "we", which is the role of a possessive determiner.
• Possessive Pronouns: These stand alone and replace a noun phrase to avoid repetition. They function as the subject or object of a sentence. Examples: "That phone is mine." ("mine" replaces "my phone"). "The book is hers." ("hers" replaces "her book"). "The car is ours." ("ours" replaces "our car"). "The house is theirs." ("theirs" replaces "their house"). Since blank (1) was followed immediately by the noun "evening", a possessive pronoun was not suitable.

Understanding this distinction is crucial for correctly filling blanks involving possession in sentences.