Exercises

Hello everyone. I’m RaspC5, fifteen years old and from Vietnam. When I did my exercises, I had difficulty finishing them. Therefore, today I need your help. I hope to be given the specific explanation.

1/ Give the correct form of the word in bracket
How can you _________the fact that some people live in mansions while others live in slums ? (JUST)
My answer is JUSTIFY, is it correct ?

2/ Choose the best answer:
I was in no way prepared for the__________of criticism my play received.
A. onslaught
B. onset
C. offensive
D. assault
My answer is A, is it correct ?

3/ Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given.
a) She have tried to make friends with John but he is so cold. (ICE)

b)The job was too hard so he wanted to resigned from it. (BED)

c) Danny came in for blame when his company went bankrupt. (FINGER)

d) I couldn’t make a lot of money after the crisis. (TOUCH)

e) Anna pretended not to be upset though the chances of success were quite small. (LIP)

In this part, if there are any phrasal verbs or idioms, can you give the meaning of each one ?

4/ I wonder whether let is used in the passive ?
In Oxford book, the author John Eastwood writes: “Use allow in the passive but not let. The hostages were allowed to go free”.
Nevertheless, in some books the passive structure of let is:
S + be + let + to inf ?
Therefore, I can’t use let in the passive ?

Thanks in advance

P/s: Please make allowance for me if there are any ungrammatical sentences in my post

You are correct about 1 and 2.

You don’t seem to have given your suggestions for 3.

  1. Trust John Eastwood!

I will try to finish part 3, because I think that I will have to use phrasal verbs and idioms to finish this part, but I am bad at these. I will post my answer as soon as possible. Thank you, Beeesneees.

You are right that you need to use some idioms. If it’s any consolation , even as a native English speaker, some of them didn’t spring immediately to mind and I had to spend a few seconds thinking about them.

a) She have tried to make friends with John but he is so cold. (ICE)
b) The job was too hard so he wanted to resigned from it. (BED)
–> The job was not a bed of roses so he wanted ro resigned from it
c) Danny came in for blame when his company went bankrupt. (FINGER)
–> The finger of suspicion was pointed at Danny when his company went bankrupt
d) I couldn’t make a lot of money after the crisis. (TOUCH)
–> I could not have the Midas touch after the crisis
e) Anna pretended not to be upset though the chances of success were quite small. (LIP)
–> Ann bit her lip though the chances of success were quite small

Please help me do the first sentence because I don’t find any idioms which are suitable for this and check the rest sentences which I have just done. Thanks in advance

a) She has tried to make friends with John but he is like ice. / … but he is ice cold. (Usually it would be ‘he is icy’ but the question indicates you need to use the word as it is.)
b) The job was too hard so he wanted to put it to bed. (This is all I could think of - but ‘putting something to bed’ means finishing it rather than resigning from it, so it’s not an ideal fit.)
c) Your suggestion is good.
d) I lost my touch after the crisis. (to lose one’s touch = lose mastery of something so was unable to make money. Again, it doesn’t seem an ideal fit.)
e) Anna kept a stiff upper lip even though her chances of success were quite small. (to keep a stiff upper lip = to hide any emotions which would indicate weakness)

Thanks teacher Beeesneees

Ah the last sentence, when I looked some idioms up in Oxford idioms, I found 2 idioms in my judgment which could be suitable for this sentence. The first one is my answer and the second is yours.
- Bite your lip: force yourself not to express the negative emotions that you are feeling
E.g: You could tell she thought the criticism was unfair but she bit her lip and said nothing

  • b a stiff upper lip:[/b] keep calm and hide your feelings when you are in pain or in a difficult situation
    E.g: The English gentleman is famous for his stiff upper lip

(Excerpted from Oxford idioms - dictionary for learners of English)

Those letters which are in italic type make me confused, and finally I chose the first one.

And the sentence d, the Midas touch: the ability to be very successful in making money.

be a bed of roses: be easy, comfortable or pleasant

Do you think that these idioms are appropriate for these sentences ?

I would not use ‘bit her lip’ for sentence (e) because it means ‘Did not express herself verbally’. Think of the saying like this:
she bit her lip and said nothing. > She held her lip with her teeth so that she could not speak. (She could not say what she was thinking).
If you bite your lip you don’t want to express your negative feelings about something because you don’t want to cause offence.
Our daughter asked us what we thought of her new boyfriend. My wife mumbled something non-commital but I bit my lip and said nothing.

If you use ‘the Midas touch’ you would have to use ‘I did not have’ - it’s another that is not a great fit.

‘Bed of roses’ is good. It could be used this way:
The job was not a bed of roses, so he wanted to resign from it.

Many thanks for your help, I have understood the difference between two idioms in the last sentence. And do you have any suggestions about the sentence d ?

Nothing other than the one I’ve already made, sorry.

Please help me finish some sentences that I am not able to do and check the sentences that I’ve done. Thanks in advance.

I/ Give the correct form of the word in bracket to complete each sentence.

  1. The b beneficial[/b] effects of moderate amounts of red wine are well-known to health professionals.
  2. Richard is now a black belt in judo and has won several b competitions[/b].
  3. All the fighting and looting has brought life to a virtual b standing ??[/b] in the capital city.
  4. The lack of women in senior government posts is a rather b ??[/b] issue at the moment.
  5. The so-called ‘argument’ which the press reported between Kournikova and her coach was in fact simply a minor b disagreement[/b].
  6. There can be no (justify) justification whatever for violence like this!
  7. We’re fortunate to live in such a quiet, safe b neighbourhood.[/b]
  8. There has been widespread public b dissatisfaction[/b] with the Prime Minister’s controversial new education policy.
  9. I’m sorry, but I find your remarks totally b unacceptable.[/b]
  10. After my last b disastrous[/b] attempt at making a cake, this time I think I’ll just go and buy one.

II/ Rewrite the following sentences using the words given

  1. He’s becoming very successful. (PLACES)
    –> He’s going places

  2. She was delighted with her new car. (PINK)
    –> She was tickled pink with her new car

  3. The Government’s decision to invest in micro-electronics was partly prompted by fear. (STEMS)
    –>

  4. After such a long time together they are still happily married. (TEST)
    –> Their marriage has stood the test of time

  5. In general, we must pass this examination.
    –> By and large, we must pass this examination

  6. We want you to inform all the details. (INS)
    –> We want you to inform the ins and outs

  7. I remember this song from somewhere. (BELL)
    –> This song rings a bell from somewhere

  8. This is the procedure. (FOLLOWS)
    –> The procedure is as follows

  9. You are absolutely forbidden to smoke anywhere in the factory. (TOTAL)
    –> There is total ban on your smoking any where in the factory

  10. Did the football team play any better last weekend? (IN)
    –> Was there any improvement in the way the football team played last weekend?

In the second exercise, the letters which are in italic and capital type are the words given, and the bold letters are my answers.

If I haven’t commented, your suggestions are great as they stand!

I

  1. standstill
  2. sensitive

II

  1. stems from fear
    • The phrase you’ve chosen is correct but the sentence seems to be wrong: We want to inform you of all the details. / We want to inform you of all the ins and outs.
  2. ‘from somewhere’ is no longer needed now you have used ‘rings a bell’.
  3. a total ban - don’t forget the article.

Many thanks to you, teacher Bee.

Hi RaspC5,

Ive been reading your posts and I wantto say that, in my country [b]"bit a lip"[/b] is used also when you say something, which wasnt worth of saying and then you worry about it and you bit your lip for saying that.

Thanks Salibali
As I know the verb “refuse” is followed by to infinitive, but today I see this: Labourers refuse [size=150]coming[/size] back to work

Sources: gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/labourers-refuse-coming-back-to-work-1.234733
www.thedubailife.com/home/news/construction-real-estate/labourers-refuse-coming-back-to-work

Is this a grammatical sentence ?

No. It should be written, ‘Labourers refuse to come back to work.’

Rewrite the following sentences:
1/ My feelings are more of concern than of irritation
–> I wasn’t so irritated as concerned ???
Is it correct ?

2/ This is a subject that jack and i disagree about (EYE)
–> This is a subject on which Jack and I do not see eye to eye.

Please check for me. Thanks in advance !

I wasn’t so much irritated as concerned.

The other sentence is okay.

Gapped Sentences, one part of CAE, think of one word only which can be used appropriately in three sentences:

  • If you’re looking for a bargain, the sports shop in town has got a special … on tennis rackets at the moment.
  • Zack came in for a good … of criticism after the team’s failure to win the cup, but he seemed unaffected by it.
  • The television company has a lucrative … with a soft-drinks manufacturer which will sponsor the series.

I have difficulty in doing this kind of exercise. Please help me do this.
Thanks in advance !

Give it a go yourself first. Here are the initial letters of each of the words (Other words may also fit though):

  1. o____
  2. d____
  3. c____