Question

A student is writing a speech to thank supporters for helping her get elected student body president. First, I would like to thank those whose hard work and great ideas were ___________ in winning this election. Which word most strongly expresses the helpers' role in her campaign? active: involved in motion or movement robust: having a strength or solidness vigorous: carried out with energy vital: of primary importance

Answer 1

I'd say vital, seeing that it's the only word that really makes sense :)

Answer 2

The answer to your question would be that the word that strongly expresses the helpers' role in the student's campaign the most is the following one: vital, of primary importance.

This is a case of collocation. The adjective "vital" is used together with the preposition "in". The fact is that you could not use "active" to talk about someone's great ideas because thoughts simply pop up, you cannot put them on active or passive mode. The same happens with "vigorous" and "robust", you could use them to talk about the students' "hard work" but not to refer to their "great ideas".  "Vital" is the adjective that collocates with both "hard work" and "great ideas".