Topic: Right Form of Verb,

Best Answer Explained in Below-:

In the sentence "The boy said, I — starve than beg," the missing phrase conveys a preference between two undesirable options: starving and begging. The phrase "would rather" is commonly used in English to indicate a preference for one thing over another, especially when discussing two alternatives.

The phrase "would rather" is typically followed by a base form of a verb (in this case, "starve") and is contrasted with another action (here, “beg”). Thus, the complete phrase would read: "I would rather starve than beg," which clearly expresses that the boy prefers to starve instead of begging.

The other options—A) "better," B) "would better," and D) "rather"—do not accurately fit the grammatical structure required for this expression of preference. "Better" and "rather" can imply preference, but they lack the necessary auxiliary verb "would" to convey a subjective wish or hypothetical scenario appropriately. "Would better" is not a standard phrase in English. Therefore, "would rather" is the correct choice, making option C the only grammatically and semantically accurate completion of the sentence, effectively reflecting the boy's sentiment.