Collocations are certain word combinations that sound natural to a native speaker. This vocabulary exercise tests your understanding of collocations using the words strong, hard and heavy.
1Nobody was surprised when he got cancer. He had always been a ............... smoker.
Wrong!
We say "heavy" smoker to mean someone who smokes a lot.
2He quit his job because he could not cope with the ............... workload.
Wrong!
We use "heavy" with workload to mean a large amount of work.
3The western part of these mountains receives ............... rain.
Wrong!
We use "heavy" with rain to mean a lot of rain.
4These kids are giving me a ............... time.
Wrong!
The fixed expression is "hard" time, meaning a difficult time.
5There was ............... snow last week.
Wrong!
We use "heavy" with snow to mean a large amount of snow.
6They raised some ............... arguments against the project.
Wrong!
We use "strong" with arguments to mean convincing or powerful arguments.
7The curriculum places a ............... emphasis on rational thinking.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Both "strong emphasis" and "heavy emphasis" are common collocations meaning a lot of emphasis; "hard emphasis" is not used.
8The tea is too ...............
Wrong!
Tea that has a powerful taste is "strong" tea.
9Stress took a ............... toll on his health.
Wrong!
The common collocation is "heavy" toll, meaning serious damage or harm.
10He incurred ............... losses.
Wrong!
We use "heavy" with losses to mean large or serious losses.
11............... casualties have been reported from the quake-hit areas.
Wrong!
We use "Heavy" with casualties to mean many or serious casualties.
12A ............... wind was blowing over the meadows.
Wrong!
We use "strong" with wind to mean powerful wind.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- Nobody was surprised when he got cancer. He had always been a heavy smoker.
- He quit his job because he could not cope with the heavy workload.
- The western part of these mountains receives heavy rain.
- These kids are giving me a hard time.
- There was heavy snow last week.
- They raised some strong arguments against the project.
- The curriculum places a strong / heavy emphasis on rational thinking.
- The tea is too strong.
- Stress took a heavy toll on his health.
- He incurred heavy losses.
- Heavy casualties have been reported from the quake-hit areas.
- A strong wind was blowing over the meadows.