Confused why a question has this answer instead of another one

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

I am confused why the following question has the answer as option 1 instead of option 4:

“Excuse me. Do you know where the bus terminal is?”
“It is _____ the large police station.”
opposite
opposed to
opposite with
opposite to

Is option 4 not more appropriate?

2

Opposite is a very flexible word. It can be used as an adverb and as a preposition. I’d say both 1 and 4 are correct, but 1 is more idiomatic: in situations such as this, the shorter form is usually preferred.

3

… also ‘opposite’ tends to be used in a geographical context, whereas ‘opposite to’ is used when describing meaning, e.g. ‘long is opposite to short’.

4

Hi,

I would say: ‘Long is the opposite of short’ to distinguish the use of ‘opposite’ in its prepositional sense.

Alan

5

I agree. ‘Opposite of’ wasn’t on offer in the question. Maybe a better example of its use would have been: “this was completely opposite to how she had imagined it”.

6

This answer does make sense.

My query then would be, since both forms 1 and 4 are correct in modern usage, had I chosen 4 in the TOEFL, would I get it marked correct?

I don’t think so as it’s scored by computer and I am not sure if the computer will accept any possible answer instead of a specific one from the 4?

I would also be happy to receive the answer for Order of sections in TOEFL