For example, ________ the 1840s, thousands of people died in the USA looking for gold.

For example, ________ the 1840s, thousands of people died in the USA looking for gold.

• A. in
• B. throughout
• C. during
• D. across

Answer: (C)

Think about how we describe events inside a time span. For actions that happen over a period, during is the natural choice because it marks the whole timeframe in which something occurs. The 1840s cover a decade, so saying thousands of people died during the 1840s signals that these deaths happened within that period while people were looking for gold. Other options are less precise for this idea: in the 1840s would still be correct, but during the 1840s sounds more like the event unfolded across the entire decade. Throughout would stress that it happened continuously across the whole period, which can be stronger than the sentence intends. Across isn’t typically used with a time period the way it is with geography. So during fits the meaning and flow best.

Think about how we describe events inside a time span. For actions that happen over a period, during is the natural choice because it marks the whole timeframe in which something occurs. The 1840s cover a decade, so saying thousands of people died during the 1840s signals that these deaths happened within that period while people were looking for gold.

Other options are less precise for this idea: in the 1840s would still be correct, but during the 1840s sounds more like the event unfolded across the entire decade. Throughout would stress that it happened continuously across the whole period, which can be stronger than the sentence intends. Across isn’t typically used with a time period the way it is with geography. So during fits the meaning and flow best.