When he did not come home, she _______ him lying dead on the roadside somewhere.
A. concluded B. looked C. notice D. pictured
GATE 2019 · General Aptitude · Most Appropriate Word · medium
Answer: D. pictured
Identify type of action: The situation: he did not come home, so she cannot physically see him anywhere. The action must be internal/mental — she is imagining or visualizing a scenario. This immediately eliminates B (looked — physical) and C (notice — physical/observational).
Test 'concluded' vs 'pictured': 'Concluded him lying dead' — unnatural; 'conclude' is typically followed by a that-clause ('concluded that he was lying dead'), not an object + participle structure. 'Pictured him lying dead' — perfectly standard; 'picture + object + -ing' is a natural construction (like 'imagine him lying dead').