Reading a word in context, not in isolation: a worked verbal reasoning question

Word-in-context questions require the meaning that fits the surrounding clause, not a general dictionary sense.

In its guidance to landlords, a housing regulator wrote: 'Properties let under the new standard must be fit for habitation at the start of the tenancy and kept so throughout its duration. Where a defect is reported, landlords should remedy it within a reasonable timeframe, having regard to its severity.' A tenant advocacy group argued that the guidance was 'toothless', because it did not specify how many days counted as reasonable. As used in the passage, the word 'reasonable' most nearly means:

aLegally binding within a fixed statutory period
bAs slow as the landlord judges convenient
cAppropriate to the circumstances, without a fixed time limit
dImmediate, regardless of the defect's severity

Worked solution

Correct answer: Appropriate to the circumstances, without a fixed time limit

The principle

Word-in-context questions require the meaning that fits the surrounding clause, not a general dictionary sense.

Steps

The guidance ties 'reasonable timeframe' explicitly to 'having regard to its severity', meaning the timeframe varies with circumstances rather than being fixed.
The advocacy group's complaint that no fixed number of days is given confirms that no statutory period is set, consistent with the claim that the timeframe is appropriate to the circumstances without a fixed limit.
The fixed-statutory-period claim and the immediate-regardless-of-severity claim contradict the flexible, severity-linked meaning, and the landlord's-convenience claim wrongly assumes the landlord alone decides with no external standard of appropriateness.

Heuristic to carry forward

Check the words immediately around the target term (here, 'having regard to') for the qualifier that narrows its meaning.

Why each other answer is wrong

Legally binding within a fixed statutory period: Contradicts the passage, which specifies no fixed statutory period, only a variable standard.
Immediate, regardless of the defect's severity: Ignores the explicit link to severity, which allows longer periods for less severe defects.
As slow as the landlord judges convenient: Wrongly implies the landlord's convenience is the standard, when 'reasonable' implies an external test of appropriateness.

Practise more questions like this one at the Wamberry practice page.