The more the union stubbornly refused to budge from its original deman

The right answer is A. This is a pretty straightforward question, but it does test us on common idiomatic use of "the more.....the more". The correct syntax we're looking for is "The more p does q, the more x does y". Immediately, this helps us eliminate B, C, D.

Between A and E, you could choose A because it's in the active voice, and that would not be incorrect. However, there is another way to go about this as well. According to the meaning of this sentence, the union is up against the district administration. Hence, according to our earlier analogy, if the subject p is the union, the subject x must be the administration. However, in E, the subject is the original proposal instead. Hence, E is incorrect, leaving A as the right answer.

Remember that knowing the rules of grammar is helpful, but following up on the meaning being conveyed by those rules is critical!

- Matoo
- Matoo