Practice Word Form and Word Choice 3

PRACTICE WORD FORM AND WORD CHOICE 3 WORD FORMATION
1. Administrative staff may be _______ through increased automation and efficiency. (SKILL)
2. The changes are _______, and will not produce a noticeable effect for 15 to 20 years. (INSIDE)
3. _______ students could understand easily what the teacher explained to them. (BRAIN)
4. Once a person has attained _______ status in the eyes of the world, it is very hard to break it. (TYPE)
5. Fatigue and boredom combine to cause _______ - one of the biggest reasons people quit. (BURN)
6. After the recent scandal, he faces a(n) _______ struggle to win back public support before the next election. (HILL)
7. The figure of total group _______ exactly balances out with the total income. (GO)
8. His book is about Shakespeare's style without getting too involved in the _______ of Shakespeare's language. (MINUTE)
9. The religious conservatives are not _______ of the West and its values. (AMOUR)
10. It is said that one woman in five is a(n) _______. Today, pressure usually pushes millions of women to
buy beyond their means as an outlet for their frustration. (SHOP)
11. A conservation focus on preserving ecosystems not only saves large numbers of species (including
___________(CHARISMA) species that do not receive public support) but also preserves the support systems that maintain life.
12. The one thing that can be said in favour is that it sends vegans and animal rights activists ___________ (CANDLE) with rage.
13. Jargon is a loaded word. One dictionary defined it, neatly and neutrally, as ‘the technical vocabulary or
idiom of a special activity or group’, but this sense is almost completely overshadowed by another: ‘obscure
and often ___________ (PRETEND) language marked by a ___________ (ROUND) way of expression
and use of long words’. It is an essential part of the network of occupations and pursuits that make up
society. It is also the chief linguistic element which shows professional awareness (‘know-how’) and social
___________ (TOGETHER) (‘shoptalk’).
If jargon is so essential a part of our lives, why then has it had such a bad press? The most important reason
stems from the way jargon can exclude as well as include. We may not be too concerned if we find
ourselves faced with a(n) ___________ (PENETRATE) wall of jargon when the subject matter has little
perceived relevance to our everyday lives, as in the case of ___________ (HYDRO), say, or linguistics. But
when the subject matter is one where we feel implicated, and think we have a right to know, and the speaker
uses words which make it hard for us to understand, then we start to complain; and if we suspect that the
obfuscation is deliberate policy, we ___________ (RESERVE) condemn, labelling it gobbledegook and
calling down public derision upon it.
No area is exempt, but the fields of advertising, politics and defence have been especially criticized in recent
years by the various campaigns for Plain English. In these domains, the extent to which people are prepared
to use jargon to hide realities is a ready source of amusement, disbelief and horror. A lie is a lie, which can
be only temporarily hidden by calling it an ‘___________ (OPERATE) statement’ or ‘an instance of
plausible ___________ (DENY)’. Nor can a nuclear plant explosion be suppressed for long behind such
phrases as ‘energetic ___________ (ASSEMBLE) ’, ‘abnormal evolution’ or ‘plant ___________ (TRANSIT) ’.
14. The manifesto is long-winded, ___________ and often ambiguous or poorly drafted. (REPEAT)
15. He mistrusted ravishment by charm, spiritual appeal, force, wit or other ___________. (BLAND)
16. Apart from a few fanatics, there was a general ___________ to apply the laws directed against them. (INCLINE)
17. Tests at the age of seven provide a ___________ against which the child's progress at school can be measured. (MARK)
18. They were an average family living a boring life in a(n) ___________ little house in the suburbs. (DESCRIBE)
19. She has written a(n) ___________ account of the modern art world. (SEE)
20. The competition challenges students around the world to come up an innovative and ___________ business gift. (TREND)
21. Lisette came back from holiday in New York with a(n) ___________ asymmetric haircut. (TREND)
22. He tends to adopt a(n) ___________ manner when talking to young women. (DESCEND)
23. The motive behind such words is austere rather than ___________. (SNOB)
26. She was sitting apart from those who had once been her friends, her eyes ___________ and her cheeks blazing. (DOWN)
27. Then Alvin endured a long, ___________wait for a flight back to New York late that night. (SPIRIT)
28. Berlusconi was ___________ by Travaglio's claim that he had colluded with the Mafia. (RAGE)
29. They can be ___________ and hypersensitive to rejection, and their social skills are, as yet, underdeveloped. (TOUCH)
30. Everyone was in a fairly constant state of ___________ anticipation and nervousness throughout the tour. (EDGE)
31. The potential for a recession across most regions of the world will have ramifications for the prospects
of expatriates in ___________ employment. (GAIN)
32. In the past, the majority of women were consigned to a lifetime of ___________ and poverty. (SERVE)
33. A(n) ___________ ensued at the lab, and Angeli was convicted this week of disorderly conduct and
malicious destruction of property. (ALTER)
34. This had all the makings of another long-running ___________ dispute, when again wider political
events quite unexpectedly overtook the controversy. (ACRID)
35. The ___________ of the community to the king is evident and reflects perhaps the resentment of a dependent people. (ANIMUS)
36. She had enjoyed the ___________ of colleagues, and the mild flirtation which often underlay it. (COMRADE)
37. She used her ___________ skills to get along with her remote grandfather, who provided so little
company for her grandmother. (RECONCILE)
38. Although a number of concessions helped ___________ minority nationalists, the most militant remained unreconciled. (PACE)
39. It encouraged experimenters to propose ___________ or novel approaches to problems. (BEAT)
40. The Qin's extremism was also its ___________ and it was soon replaced by the more enduring Han
dynasty, which sought compromise with aristocratic elites and legitimation through a revived Confucianism. (DO) WORD CHOICE
1. Discussions on the issue of expansion of the company have been in _______ since the outbreak of the disease in the area. A. hitch B. limbo C. feud D. core
2. Viewers were _______ at the incredible sight of the lunar landscape, unable to take their eyes off the
screen until the very end of the broadcast. A. switched B. devised C. transfixed D. stifled
3. Having lost her mother at an early age, Mary felt she had become a mere _______, having to do
absolutely everything for her five brothers and sisters. A. taskmaster B. workmate C. slavedriver D. workhorse
4. Keith’s _______ income looks impressive, but once tax and social security contributions are deducted, it’s not so much. A. full B. grand C. net D. gross
5. We have developed rapid order processing to _______ deliveries to customers. A. expedite B. fasten C. heighten D. quicken
6. The operation was a success, but the patient died of _______. A. implications B. symptoms C. after-effects D. ramifications
7. Increasing terrorism in the region puts a new _______ on the situation. A. complexion B. disposition C. outlet D. tantrum
8. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to call me. I can be there _______. A. in a fix B. in a flash C. in a daze D. in the bag
9. He felt his heart _______ as his bride-to-be began her walk down the aisle. A. fasten B. quicken C. expedite D. heighten
10. My car broke down and I had to _______ a huge sum of money to have it towed and serviced. A. splash out B. fork out C. put aside D. pay off
11. The candidate’s optimism gave _______ to doubt as the result of exit polls became known. A. place B. lie C. vent D. voice
12. After the hurricane, all that was left of our house was a pile of _______. A. rabble B. rubble C. ramble D. rumble
13. To say it is the best novel written in the last twenty years is going far _______. A. a long way
B. over the topC. through a bad patch D. to great lengths
14. This week’s programme is given _______ a profile of an eminent scientist. A. credit for B. in to C. over to D. up on
15. Inspector Morts was determined to get to the _______ of the mystery. A. ground B. end C. bottom D. point
16. Getting away from the stresses of work would do you a _______ of good. A. sense B. taste C. virtue D. power
17. If you make it to the final, you will be _______ some of the best sprinters in the world. A. in for B. up to C. up against D. up with
18. He gave speeches all over the world to _______ support for his “Help the Homeless” Campaign. A. trot out B. turn to C. weigh up D. whip up
19. Somehow I managed to _______ my physics exam. The pass mark was 55 and I got 56. A. scrape through B. shake off C. sit through D. slip off
20. The new professor is way ahead of the _______with his research into genetics. A. twist B. circle C. spin D. curve
21. Don’t _______ him on to join a gang: nothing could be worse for him! A. egg B. toast C. butter D. knife
22. Many companies seem to reach the _______ of disaster before anybody has tried to get something done. A. side B. precipice C. edge D. brink
23. I am not surprised that your brother is angry; you spent half an hour _______ him up about an issue he cares about deeply. A. spinning B. turning C. winding D. twirling
24. Although Gail thought she should have won first place, she _______ her pride and congratulated her rival. A. exerted B. swallowed C. bore D. aroused
25. I had spent two months worrying about it and I was glad to get it off my _______. A. shoulders B. head C. chest D. mouth
26. That he was using unscrupulous research methods only came out because his assistant _______ on him to the press. A. ratted B. hounded C. fished D. bugged
27. The phrase ‘money doesn't buy happiness’ is a cautionary cliché that keeps us from blindly lining your
pockets with _______ in the hope that we’ll feel happier. A. stash B. hoard C. stock D. dosh
28. If there happened to be both rich and poor people, as there happen to be both black and white ones, then
the advantages of the _______ might well spread in time to the hard-up. A. well-heeled B. big-hearted C. open-handed D. tight-fisted
29. The government has agreed to _______ an additional £5 million to schools in underprivileged regions. A. dole out B. tip off C. crack down D. toss off
30. As much as the candidate tried to convince people of his honesty, he could not shake off his _______ past. A. serene B. tranquil C. shady D. frigid