The claims of students look hollow when they attribute their poor performance to difficulty of examination.

inundate
inhere
impute
infer

The correct answer is C. impute.

To impute means to attribute something to someone or something else. In this case, the students are attributing their poor performance to the difficulty of the examination. This means that they are saying that the examination was too difficult and that this is why they did not do well.

The other options are not correct.

  • To inundate means to flood or overwhelm with something. This does not make sense in the context of the sentence.
  • To inhere means to be a natural or essential part of something. This does not make sense in the context of the sentence.
  • To infer means to draw a conclusion from evidence. This does not make sense in the context of the sentence.

I hope this helps!