Select the correct option: Had it not been for her timely intervention, the discussion might well have into an acrimonious stalem…

Question

Select the correct option:

Had it not been for her timely intervention, the discussion might well have into an acrimonious stalemate.

1. A. evolved
2. B. devolved (Correct answer)
3. C. emerged
4. D. absorbed

Correct Answer

Option B — devolved

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is devolved.

Key Points

• To devolve into something means to deteriorate or degenerate into a worse state — exactly what a discussion collapsing into an acrimonious stalemate describes.
• Evolved means to develop, usually toward something better or more complex, so it contradicts the sentence's negative direction.
• Emerged means to come into view and takes *from*, not *into*; absorbed does not fit the construction at all.

Additional Information

• Devolve has a second, distinct sense in politics: to transfer power from a central authority to a regional one, as in *devolution* of powers to states.
• The prefixes signal direction: e-/ex- outward or upward (evolve, emerge, elevate), de- downward or away (devolve, degrade, decline).
• Note the collocations — a discussion *devolves into* chaos, a species *evolves from* an ancestor, a pattern *emerges from* data. Matching the verb to its preposition is often quicker than defining it.