He is a postmaster . . . . . . . a cock and bull story whenever his boss tries to pull him up for his negligence.

pulling out
hitting upon
dishing out
cooking up

The correct answer is D. cooking up.

A cock and bull story is an absurd or improbable story. The postmaster cooks up a cock and bull story whenever his boss tries to pull him up for his negligence. This means that he makes up an excuse to try to cover up his mistakes.

The other options are not correct because they do not make sense in the context of the sentence.

  • Pulling out: This means to remove something from a place. It does not make sense to say that the postmaster pulls out a cock and bull story.
  • Hitting upon: This means to find or discover something by chance. It does not make sense to say that the postmaster hits upon a cock and bull story.
  • Dishing out: This means to give out something, especially food. It does not make sense to say that the postmaster dishes out a cock and bull story.