Understanding the Sentence Completion Question

The question asks us to choose the most appropriate word or group of words to fill the blank in the sentence: "The football match had to be _______ because of the weather." This sentence describes a situation where a planned football match was affected by bad weather conditions. We need to select a phrasal verb that indicates what happened to the football match due to the weather.

Analyzing the Options for the Football Match

Let's look at the meaning of each option provided:

• Called on: This phrasal verb usually means to ask someone to do something, or to visit someone formally. For example, "The teacher called on a student to answer." Or, "He called on his relatives last week." It does not fit the context of a football match being affected by weather.
• Called off: This phrasal verb means to cancel something that was planned, such as an event, meeting, or sports match. For example, "The picnic was called off because of rain." This meaning seems highly relevant to the sentence about a football match being cancelled due to weather.
• Called out: This phrasal verb has several meanings, including to shout loudly, to challenge someone, or to summon someone (like calling out the fire brigade). For example, "She called out for help." Or, "He called out his opponent." It does not fit the context of a football match being affected by weather.
• Called over: This phrasal verb means to ask someone to come closer to you. For example, "He called her over to show her something." It does not fit the context of a football match being affected by weather.

Determining the Most Appropriate Phrasal Verb

Based on the meanings of the phrasal verbs, "called off" is the only one that makes sense in the context of a football match that could not happen because of bad weather. When an event like a football match is cancelled, we use the phrasal verb "call off".

Therefore, the most appropriate word group for the blank is "called off". The completed sentence would be: "The football match had to be called off because of the weather."

Revision Table: Phrasal Verbs with 'Call'

Additional Information: Understanding Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and a preposition or adverb (or sometimes both) that function as a single unit and often have a meaning different from the individual words. They are very common in English, especially in informal contexts.

Understanding common phrasal verbs like "call off" is important for comprehending and using English effectively. The same verb can combine with different prepositions/adverbs to create phrasal verbs with completely different meanings, as seen with the verb "call" in this question.

• They are idiomatic expressions, meaning their meaning isn't always obvious from the individual words.
• They can be separable (where the object can go between the verb and the particle, e.g., "call the match off") or inseparable (where the object must come after the particle, e.g., "look after the baby"). "Call off" is separable: "call off the match" or "call the match off".