Select a suitable option to complete the sentence:
 They were delighted to see a______ of fish near the bank of the river.
A)platoon
B)shoal
C)tiding
D)meeting

Hint: Collective nouns are the nouns used to name a group or something that is in a collection.

Complete step-by-step answer:

After observing the given sentence, we notice that the suitable word is a collective noun. In order to select a suitable option, we have to identify it as a collective noun that is used for a group of fish. We already know what collective nouns or from the hint given to us.
A platoon is a collective noun that is used to represent a company or a group of soldiers. It does not represent a group of fish. Hence, the option ‘a’ is not the correct answer.
A shoal is a subgroup of a school of fish. We observe that it is the collective noun for fish. Hence, option ‘b’ is a possibly correct answer.
Tiding is an invalid word. Hence, option ‘c’ is a wrong answer.
A meeting is not a collective noun. It means a gathering or an assembly of people. it does not represent a group of fish. Hence, option ‘d’ is not the correct answer.
Thus, after observing all the options, we can conclude that option ‘b’ is the correct answer.

Note: A shoal is a random sect of a school of fish. A shoal is smaller than a school of fish.