In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “no improvement”. Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay responded to Corbyn, insisting that EU leaders went far than before in giving assurances that the backstop would be temporary during their summit in December.?

Option 2 : Went further than before

The correct answer is option 2) i.e. Went further than before

• The underlined part is incorrect because the word ‘far’ is inappropriate here. ‘Far’ denotes a ‘large distance between two things’.
• ‘Far’ must be replaced with ‘further’ which means ‘to move/take something ahead of its current position’.
• The sentence conveys that more assurances have been given by the EU leaders. Therefore ‘further’ is an appropriate adverb here.
• Since the sentence is in past tense the use of the present form of the verb ‘go’ is incorrect.
• Hence, option 2 is the correct answer.

Correct answer- "Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay responded to Corbyn, insisting that EU leaders went further than before in giving assurances that the backstop would be temporary during their summit in December."