I saw this sentence on a grammar test but I don't understand why we cannot use the word "congratulated". I checked and saw "congratulated" also uses the same structure ( congratulate somebody for doing something) but according to the book the answer is "praised".
Everybody ___ her for saving the old man from drowning.
From the discussion in the comments:
For me congratulate something you get after a long term phase effort..and there may be another phase in the future. For example, being admitted to Yale. But maybe at the end of a relatively smaller effort you can be praised. You can also be praised because of your manner. So maybe the guy who was saved is the one who should be congratulated, but on the other hand you can be congratulated when you won something like a contest.
Best Answer
The Original Poster is correct. The verb congratulate makes perfect sense here. We often congratulate people for doing things that are noble or admirable. They do not have to involve the person's own good fortune at all.
If the book has many examples like that, the Original Poster best get another book!
Here are a few million examples from the internet, where people get congratulated for saving something or other, including people's lives.
If you don't want to click on the link, I've pasted some below: