Difference between care and attention

[Tina]

Test No. incompl/inter-6 "The Farmer and his Sons", question 3

He wanted his sons to pay as much ......... to the cultivation of the farm as he had done many years.

(a) thought
(b) care
(c) attention
(d) management

Test No. incompl/inter-6 "The Farmer and his Sons", answer 3

He wanted his sons to pay as much attention to the cultivation of the farm as he had done many years.

Correct answer: (c) attention

Your answer was: incorrect
He wanted his sons to pay as much care to the cultivation of the farm as he had done many years.
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Why the correct answer is attention not care? Pls. explain. Thank you verry much

[Alan]

There are two expressions here: pay attention to and take care of. You need the first one here because of the preposition to and the verb pay in the sentence.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/look