Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions from the alternatives given below. As they navigated through the dense forest, t…

Question

Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions from the alternatives given below.

As they navigated through the dense forest, they stumbled an ancient ruin that was hidden beneath the overgrown vegetation.

1. A. towards
2. B. upon (Correct answer)
3. C. under
4. D. around

Correct Answer

Option B — upon

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is upon.

Key Points

• Stumble upon is the fixed collocation meaning to discover something by chance.
• The sense of accidental discovery fits finding a hidden ruin while navigating a forest.
• *Stumble towards*, *under* or *around* are not standard idiomatic combinations for discovery.
• Come across carries the same meaning and can substitute for *stumble upon*.

Additional Information

• Several expressions share this sense of accidental discovery and are interchangeable in most contexts: come across, chance upon, happen upon and run into (for people).
• *Stumble* keeps its literal sense too — to trip while walking — so only the preposition upon/on signals the figurative meaning of discovery.
• Fixed verb-preposition pairs like this cannot be reasoned out and must be memorised, which is why they recur so reliably in JKSSB English sections.