Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1............... the unexpected audit made the board reconsider was not the budget itself, but the assumptions behind it.
Wrong!
Use "What" to form a pseudo-cleft: 'What the unexpected audit made the board reconsider' means 'the thing that it made the board reconsider', and the focus comes after 'was': not the budget, but the assumptions behind it.
2It was the external consultant ............... challenged the figures, not the finance director.
Wrong!
Use "who" in an it-cleft when the focused element is a person: the external consultant challenged the figures.
3It was ............... that the report was sent, not to the legal department.
Wrong!
Use "to the procurement team" because the verb phrase in the cleft clause is 'the report was sent', which requires the recipient preposition 'to'.
4What ............... the negotiations alive was the mediator's insistence on private meetings.
Wrong!
Use "kept" because the sentence describes a past situation (note 'was'); 'keep' is present tense and would also need to be singular ('keeps') after 'What'.
5All ............... was a clear apology, not another carefully worded press statement.
Wrong!
Use "she wanted" after 'All': in an all-cleft, 'All she wanted' means 'the only thing she wanted'.
6It was during the migration ............... the error first appeared, not during routine maintenance.
Wrong!
Use "when" because the focused element is a time expression: the error first appeared 'during the migration'.
7It was ............... that the missing files were stored, although everyone searched the main archive first.
Wrong!
Use "in the annex" because the clause 'the missing files were stored' requires a place phrase, not a direct object.
8What we need is ..............., not another meeting about the decision-making process.
Wrong!
Use "a decision" after 'What we need is' because the complement names the thing needed, not an imperative or bare verb action.
9The sudden change in tone was ..............., not the revised sales forecast itself.
Wrong!
Use "what worried investors" after a noun phrase in a reversed pseudo-cleft: the sudden change in tone was the thing that worried them.
10It was because of the risk of litigation ............... the committee postponed the vote, not because of any disagreement about the evidence.
Wrong!
In an it-cleft the focused element, here the reason 'because of the risk of litigation', is followed by "that", not 'why' or 'when'.
11Not until ............... did the company withdraw the advertisement.
Wrong!
Use "the regulator intervened" after 'Not until'; the inversion belongs in the main clause, 'did the company withdraw the advertisement'.
12The reason the trial was suspended is ............... the data had been compromised.
Wrong!
Use "that" in the formal reason-cleft pattern 'The reason ... is that ...'.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- What the unexpected audit made the board reconsider was not the budget itself, but the assumptions behind it.
- It was the external consultant who challenged the figures, not the finance director.
- It was to the procurement team that the report was sent, not to the legal department.
- What kept the negotiations alive was the mediator’s insistence on private meetings.
- All she wanted was a clear apology, not another carefully worded press statement.
- It was during the migration when the error first appeared, not during routine maintenance.
- It was in the annex that the missing files were stored, although everyone searched the main archive first.
- What we need is a decision, not another meeting about the decision-making process.
- The sudden change in tone was what worried investors, not the revised sales forecast itself.
- It was because of the risk of litigation that the committee postponed the vote, not because of any disagreement about the evidence.
- Not until the regulator intervened did the company withdraw the advertisement.
- The reason the trial was suspended is that the data had been compromised.