Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
I would rather you ............... me before making a decision that affects the whole team.
Wrong!
After 'would rather you', we usually use a past form to talk about a present or future preference.
No sooner ............... the meeting begun than the fire alarm went off.
Wrong!
With 'no sooner', we use inversion with 'had' plus the past participle.
The new evidence ............... the witness's statement into question.
Wrong!
The natural collocation is 'call into question'.
If it ............... for your advice, we would have signed the contract blindly.
Wrong!
The fixed conditional phrase is 'if it hadn't been for'.
She ............... her resignation, but the manager refused to accept it.
Wrong!
You can 'hand in' or 'submit' a resignation, but not 'resign' it.
It was only after the audit that the company ............... the scale of the losses.
Wrong!
With 'it was only after...', we typically use a past tense describing what happened then.
By the time we arrived, the guests ............... for over an hour.
Wrong!
We use the past perfect continuous for an action continuing up to a point in the past.
He spoke so softly that I could barely ............... what he was saying.
Wrong!
The natural verb here is 'make out' meaning 'understand' or 'hear clearly'.
The committee insisted that the report ............... before it was published.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
After 'insist that', we can use either the mandative subjunctive ('be' + past participle) or 'should be' + past participle.
I can't ............... how he managed to stay calm during the interrogation.
Wrong!
The idiom is 'can't fathom' meaning 'can't understand'.
The CEO ............... the allegations as baseless, but investors remained uneasy.
Wrong!
You can 'dismiss' or 'brush off' allegations, but not 'refuse' them.
Had I known about the delay, I ............... a later flight.
Wrong!
In a third conditional, we use 'would have' plus a past participle.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- I would rather you consulted me before making a decision that affects the whole team.
- No sooner had the meeting begun than the fire alarm went off.
- The new evidence called the witness's statement into question.
- If it hadn't been for your advice, we would have signed the contract blindly.
- She handed in her resignation, but the manager refused to accept it.
- It was only after the audit that the company realized the scale of the losses.
- By the time we arrived, the guests had been waiting for over an hour.
- He spoke so softly that I could barely make out what he was saying.
- The committee insisted that the report be edited before it was published.
The committee insisted that the report should be edited before it was published. - I can't fathom how he managed to stay calm during the interrogation.
- The CEO dismissed the allegations as baseless, but investors remained uneasy.
- Had I known about the delay, I would have booked a later flight.
