Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
1I would rather you ............... me before making a decision that affects the whole team.
Wrong!
After "would rather you", use "consulted" for a present or future preference.
2No sooner ............... the meeting begun than the fire alarm went off.
Wrong!
After "No sooner", use inversion with "had" before the past participle.
3The new evidence ............... the witness's statement into question.
Wrong!
The correct collocation is "called" in the phrase "called into question".
4If it ............... for your advice, we would have signed the contract blindly.
Wrong!
The third conditional phrase is "hadn't been" in "If it hadn't been for".
5She ............... her resignation, but the manager refused to accept it.
Wrong!
We use "handed in" with a resignation letter or notice.
6It was only after the audit that the company ............... the scale of the losses.
Wrong!
Use the simple past "realized" for the discovery after the audit.
7By the time we arrived, the guests ............... for over an hour.
Wrong!
Use "had been waiting" for an action continuing up to a past time.
8He spoke so softly that I could barely ............... what he was saying.
Wrong!
The phrasal verb "make out" means hear or understand something with difficulty.
9The committee insisted that the report ............... before it was published.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
After "insisted that", both "be edited" and "should be edited" are correct formal patterns.
10I can't ............... how he managed to stay calm during the interrogation.
Wrong!
The verb "fathom" means understand something difficult or surprising.
11The CEO ............... the allegations as baseless, but investors remained uneasy.
Wrong!
The verb "dismissed" means treated something as not worth serious attention.
12Had I known about the delay, I ............... a later flight.
Wrong!
In this third conditional sentence, use "would have booked" for the unreal past result.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
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 / 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.