The city council was notorious for voting down any measure t

[hasibul.alam]

Can anyone explain this?

The city council was notorious for voting down any measure that would restrict its ability to wield power, so that it _____ a bill aimed to narrow the ambit of its jurisdiction was surprising only to the small few who had come to believe that the council would pull an about-face.
A. championed
B. took exception to
C. discarded
D. was in favor of
E. tabled
F. objected to

The correct answer: BF

[tommywallach]

Can I ask where you're confused? We know the city council votes down anything that restricts its power. We also know that the decision they made (in the blank) was surprisingly ONLY to people who thought the city council might do something different this time (an "about-face" means to go back on your previous way of doing things). So we now know the council did what it ALWAYS does: votes down any measure that restricts its power.

So "took exception to" and "objected to" both fit the bill--both mean the city council had a problem with the new bill to "narrow the ambit of its jurisdiction" (i.e. limit its power).

-t