Once an Order Is Refused, There Is Almost No Way to Unwind That Action.

• A. Order
• B. Command
• C. Directive
• D. Plan

Answer: (A)

Authority and the binding nature of formal orders are what this sentence hinges on. An order is a formal instruction issued by someone with authority that others are expected to obey. Once such an instruction is refused and actions are already set in motion because of it, unwinding those actions becomes difficult because resources have been deployed, deadlines set, and expectations created. The sense of obligation and momentum behind an order makes reversal and undoing the consequences much more challenging than with a plan or more discretionary guidance.

A plan, in contrast, is a proposed course that can be revised or halted more easily; a directive is formal guidance or policy, which can be adjusted at higher levels; a command is very close to an order, but everyday usage tends to treat the act of refusing an order as the most natural and idiomatic pairing with the word “order.”