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Select the most appropriate word to fill in the blank in the following sentence.

There ______ to be serious flaws in the design.

Solution

✅ Correct Option: 3

Option 1 -> "claimed" doesn't work with the "there + to be" structure grammatically.

Option 2 -> "reported" is incorrect as it doesn't fit the passive construction needed here.

Option 3 -> "were said" creates the correct passive construction "there were said to be," meaning "it was said that there were."

Option 4 -> "were told" is grammatically incorrect in this impersonal reporting structure.


Hence, Option 3: were said -> This forms the proper passive reporting structure "there were said to be," which is used to report information impersonally, indicating that people/sources claimed there were serious flaws in the design -> correct

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