Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1That still doesn't answer ............... before the audit deadline.
Wrong!
Use "whether you approved the payment" after answer when the missing information is an indirect yes/no question.
2Please ............... me a straight answer: did the minister see the report before signing it?
Wrong!
The fixed response to evasion is "give" in the phrase give someone a straight answer.
3Rather than ............... the question, tell us, yes or no, whether the data were altered.
Wrong!
After Rather than, use "answering" to contrast direct response with evasive commentary when the speaker asks for the actual reply.
4Saying that the files were 'reviewed through the usual channels' is ..............., not who authorised the deletion.
Wrong!
Call an evasive reply "a non-answer" when it avoids the question instead of supplying the requested information.
5I'm not asking whether the policy was sensible; I'm asking ............... of the official who approved it.
Wrong!
Use "for the name" when you are narrowing an evasive reply to the specific missing fact requested.
6The first word of your reply should be ...............: were you present when the contract was signed?
Wrong!
When a question requires a binary answer, "yes or no" is the direct form; saying it is complicated evades that format.
7Don't tell us how hard you work; address ............... that funds were diverted to your campaign.
Wrong!
Use "the allegation" when the speaker is insisting that the respondent deal with the charge itself, not their public image.
8Before you describe the wider strategy, could you come ............... to my question about the missing invoices?
Wrong!
Use "come back" to a question when returning from a digression to the point that was asked.
9Not the background, not the trend: give us ............... you promised to publish yesterday.
Wrong!
Use "the figure" when the question asks for the exact number and the speaker is rejecting contextual evasion.
10If you cannot identify the source, say ..............., not what the committee hopes to discover later.
Wrong!
If the truthful direct answer is lack of knowledge, say "that you don't know" rather than substituting hopes or aspirations.
11The witness has finally ............... the question, so we can move on to the next point.
Wrong!
Use "answered" when explaining that the witness has finally supplied the requested information.
12If the answer was withheld to avoid embarrassment, call it by its ............... name: a cover-up, not an administrative delay.
Wrong!
The idiom is "proper" in call something by its proper name, used here to name evasion plainly.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- That still doesn’t answer whether you approved the payment before the audit deadline.
- Please give me a straight answer: did the minister see the report before signing it?
- Rather than answering the question, tell us, yes or no, whether the data were altered.
- Saying that the files were ‘reviewed through the usual channels’ is a non-answer, not who authorised the deletion.
- I’m not asking whether the policy was sensible; I’m asking for the name of the official who approved it.
- The first word of your reply should be yes or no: were you present when the contract was signed?
- Don’t tell us how hard you work; address the allegation that funds were diverted to your campaign.
- Before you describe the wider strategy, could you come back to my question about the missing invoices?
- Not the background, not the trend: give us the figure you promised to publish yesterday.
- If you cannot identify the source, say that you don’t know, not what the committee hopes to discover later.
- The witness has finally answered the question, so we can move on to the next point.
- If the answer was withheld to avoid embarrassment, call it by its proper name: a cover-up, not an administrative delay.
