Identifying the Unformable Word

The goal is to find which word from the options cannot be constructed using the letters of 'ADMINISTRATION', with each letter used at most once.

Letter Inventory of ADMINISTRATION

First, let's list the letters available in the word 'ADMINISTRATION' and their counts:

• A: 2
• D: 1
• M: 1
• I: 3
• N: 2
• S: 1
• T: 2
• R: 1
• O: 1

The word 'ADMINISTRATION' has 14 letters in total.

Analyzing Option A: SITUATION

Let's check the letters required for 'SITUATION': S, I, T, U, A, T, I, O, N.

• S: Available (1 needed, 1 available)
• I: Available (2 needed, 3 available)
• T: Available (2 needed, 2 available)
• U: Not available (1 needed, 0 available)
• A: Available (1 needed, 2 available)
• O: Available (1 needed, 1 available)
• N: Available (1 needed, 2 available)

The word 'SITUATION' requires the letter 'U', which is not present in 'ADMINISTRATION'. Therefore, 'SITUATION' cannot be formed.

Analyzing Other Options

We verify if the other options can be formed:

• TRADITION: T(2), R(1), A(1), D(1), I(2), O(1), N(1). All letters are present in 'ADMINISTRATION' with sufficient counts.
• RATION: R(1), A(1), T(1), I(1), O(1), N(1). All letters are present.
• STRAIN: S(1), T(1), R(1), A(1), I(1), N(1). All letters are present.

Conclusion

Only the word 'SITUATION' contains a letter ('U') that is not available in 'ADMINISTRATION'.