The error in the original sentence is with the verb form "to prepared." The infinitive form "to" should be followed by the base form of the verb, not the past tense form. 'Prepared' is the past tense form, not the base form (the base form is 'prepare'). Similarly, options (c) and (d) are incorrect. These options also use past tense forms (secured and met) after the infinitive marker 'to'.
Option (a) does not contain any grammatical or contextual errors. It implies that the purpose of the team's rigorous practice was to achieve a specific objective - namely, winning the national championship.
Option (e) is incorrect because "since" is incorrectly used to indicate a duration of time, whereas "for" should be used to specify how long the action occurred. "Since two months" is grammatically incorrect because "since" refers to a specific point in time rather than a duration. 'For' is used to describe a specific duration. Hence, (a) is the correct answer.
The correct sentence is: The team practised rigorously with the goal of winning the national championship.
Note:
The infinitive of a verb has two forms: the to-infinitive and the infinitive without to. The to-form consists of to plus the base form of the verb: I want to speak to you. We came here to work, not to play.
Infinitives are a special form of verbs that can be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. They are usually made by adding the word to before the base verb, and they can be useful when discussing actions without actually doing the action, such as "I want to go home," or "To err is human."
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