The manager expressed ____ the team's ability to deliver on time.

The manager expressed ____ the team's ability to deliver on time.

• A. have confidence in
• B. capable of
• C. in contrast to
• D. sympathize with

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is how to pair the verb express with the right noun phrase. After express, we usually name what’s being expressed with a noun and link it to the object with a preposition. Here, the natural fit is confidence in something: the manager expressed confidence in the team’s ability to deliver on time. That forms a clean, idiomatic phrase: confidence in. Why not the others? Adjectival phrases like capable of don’t work here because they can’t directly follow express without a restructuring (you’d need something like express that the team is capable of delivering). A phrase like in contrast to is used for comparisons and doesn’t complete the sentence meaningfully. Sympathize with requires a person or situation as the object, not an ability.

The idea being tested is how to pair the verb express with the right noun phrase. After express, we usually name what’s being expressed with a noun and link it to the object with a preposition. Here, the natural fit is confidence in something: the manager expressed confidence in the team’s ability to deliver on time. That forms a clean, idiomatic phrase: confidence in.

Why not the others? Adjectival phrases like capable of don’t work here because they can’t directly follow express without a restructuring (you’d need something like express that the team is capable of delivering). A phrase like in contrast to is used for comparisons and doesn’t complete the sentence meaningfully. Sympathize with requires a person or situation as the object, not an ability.