To verbally refrain from voting. Frequently the reason for ______ing is a conflict of interest.

• A. Abstention
• B. Abstain
• C. Accept
• D. Acclamation

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how the phrase after “the reason for” is usually a verb in -ing form (a gerund) that describes the action. Since the blank appears with “ing” after it, you need a base verb that can take -ing to make the action described. The action described here is refraining from voting, which is expressed by the verb abstain. When you add -ing, you get abstaining, so the sentence reads: “the reason for abstaining is a conflict of interest.” The other options don’t fit this exact grammatical pattern: abstention is a noun, not the verb form needed for “______ing”; accept would lead to accepting (a different sense), and acclamation is a noun unrelated to the act of refraining.