Select the correct word to complete the sentence:

"The auditor found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing; the discrepancy was attributed entirely to an administrative _____."

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. inadvertence

- "Malevolence" (ill will), "fraud" (intentional deception), and "conspiracy" (collusion to commit an unlawful act) all describe deliberate wrongdoing.
- "Inadvertence" means an unintentional oversight, accidental carelessness, or heedless mistake.
  1. Step 1: Analyze the semantic clue provided by the first clause: "no evidence of intentional wrongdoing". This requires a noun that denotes an unintentional mistake rather than deliberate misconduct.
  2. Step 2: Evaluate the options :
  3. Step 3: Hence, attributing the discrepancy to an "administrative inadvertence" perfectly completes the thought.
Answer
inadvertence.

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