Question:

Choose the option that conforms most closely to Standard English usage.

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Think of the fixed phrase that means to depend on something when other things fail, and check which preposition goes with it.
Updated On: Nov 7, 2026
  • We are forced to fall back on fatalism as an explanation of irrational events.
  • We are forced to falling back on the fatalism as an explanation of irrational events.
  • We are forced to fall back on fatalism as explanations of irrational events.
  • We are forced to fall back to fatalism as an explanation of irrational events.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Find the idea being tested:
All four sentences say the same thing. The differences are the verb form after "forced to", the preposition after "fall back", the article before "fatalism" and the number of "explanation".

Step 2: Verb form after "forced to":
The structure "be forced to" is followed by the base form of a verb, as in "forced to leave". So we need "fall back".
Option (2) says "forced to falling back", which uses an "-ing" form after "to". That is wrong.

Step 3: The phrasal verb "fall back":
The phrasal verb that means "to depend on something when other things fail" is "fall back on". We do not say "fall back to" in this sense.
Option (4) says "fall back to fatalism", so it uses the wrong preposition and is wrong.

Step 4: Article and number:
"Fatalism" is an abstract idea used in a general sense, so it takes no article. Option (2) writes "the fatalism", which is wrong.
The word "explanation" is singular with "an". In option (3) we get "as explanations", where fatalism, a single idea, is described as many explanations. That does not fit "an explanation" in the other options, and it reads unnaturally.

Step 5: Check option (1):
"We are forced to fall back on fatalism as an explanation of irrational events." The verb form, the preposition, the missing article and the singular noun are all correct.

Final Answer:
Option (1) is the only sentence with no error. The answer is option (1). \[ \boxed{\text{Option 1}} \]
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