In the following sentence, three words have been highlighted in bold and marked as (A), (B), and (C). Choose the option that represents the correct sequence of these words to make the sentence grammatically correct and meaningful.

Nearly four years have withdrawal (A) since France’s decided (B) from the alliance before Germany passed (C) to sign the treaty with Italy.

Correct Answer: The correct sequence is CAB.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

Let's analyze the given sentence and the contextual role of each highlighted word:

Given sentence: "Nearly four years have withdrawal (A) since France’s decided (B) from the alliance before Germany passed (C) to sign the treaty with Italy."

1. Position (A): The sentence starts with "Nearly four years have ...". The present perfect tense construction "have + past participle" requires a past participle verb form here. Looking at the options, word (C) passed fits correctly grammatically and logically ("four years have passed").

2. Position (B): Following "since France's ...", a noun is required after the possessive noun "France's". Word (A) withdrawal is a noun that perfectly fits the context ("France's withdrawal from the alliance").

3. Position (C): In "before Germany ... to sign the treaty", a verb in the past tense is required to show the action taken by Germany. Word (B) decided fits logically here ("before Germany decided to sign").

Putting the rearranged words back into the sentence gives:

"Nearly four years have passed (C) since France’s withdrawal (A) from the alliance before Germany decided (B) to sign the treaty with Italy."

Therefore, the correct order of words to make the sentence grammatically correct and meaningful is C - A - B (CAB).