look for/ search for a convict

[trunghq]

I ran into this question yesterday. Both C and D sound okay to me. I am wondering why D can be crossed out because C is the right key.

The police must now __________ the escaped convict in the surrounding countries.

A. search
B. look after
C. look for
D. be in search of

Another question of mine is that, how different these phrases are?

must look for
must be looking for

I think the second one draw greater attention than the first.

Please help me.

 

[xavierlancaster]

Hi,

C. "look for" is the correct answer. "Look after" would convey that the police need to take care of the convict, which is not the intended meaning here.

 

[trunghq]

Hi,

C. "look for" is the correct answer. "Look after" would convey that the police need to take care of the convict, which is not the intended meaning here.

How about D? I often use this phrase "in search of" in IELTS writings, for example, those who are in search of a job/ jobs. Therefore, I have no idea why D is not true.

 

[SwissPete]

be in search of is a very convoluted way of saying look for.

 

[Linkway]

I believe that D. is grammatically valid, but has different meaning and is rather clumsy, and far less likely to be said than C.

The police must now be in search of the escaped convict in the surrounding countries.

That would be using "must" in the sense of logical inference, whereas C. uses "must" in the sense of obligation.

In addition, if I wanted to use "search" I would say "search for" the convict;

The police must now search for the escaped convict in the surrounding countries.

 

[trunghq]

Thanks for your explanations. I still have one question left, please answer it.

 

[xavierlancaster]

As per the above reply, "must look for" suggests there is an imperative or obligation to look for something, whereas "must be looking for" involves a logical inference. For example: "I must look for the file I misplaced" vs. "she must be looking for the file she misplaced" In the first instance, "must look for" indicates an imperative to find the file. In the second instance, the interlocutor is inferring that the subject is looking for the file.