Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1The committee published the raw data; ............... , criticism of the methodology became more specific and less speculative.
Wrong!
"Consequently" is correct because the second clause states a result of the decision in the first clause.
2External reviewers criticised the proposal as too cautious. ............... , the internal team regarded the same restraint as its main strength.
Wrong!
"By contrast" is correct because the second sentence opposes the external reviewers' complaint to the internal team's view.
3The contract requires both ethics approval and a confidentiality clause, but only the ............... is legally binding after the project ends.
Wrong!
"latter" is correct because the confidentiality clause is the second of the two conditions mentioned.
4............... decision surprised the auditors: the company had recorded projected income as if it had already been earned.
Wrong!
"This" is correct because it refers forward to the decision stated after the colon.
5The deficit was reduced by adjusting the timetable ............... abandoning the project altogether.
Wrong!
"rather than by" is correct because it preserves the parallel pattern "by adjusting ... rather than by abandoning ...".
6Once the legal review has been completed, the archive will ............... be opened to external researchers.
Wrong!
"thereafter" is correct because the archive opens only after the review has finished.
7The council approved the extension ............... the engineers had demonstrated that the old bridge could support the additional load.
Wrong!
"because" is correct because the safety certificate explains why the council approved the extension.
8The report draws on interviews with more than two hundred residents; ............... , it says almost nothing about the objections raised at the public meeting.
Wrong!
"however" is correct because the sentence contrasts extensive consultation with the report's failure to address objections.
9Several documents are kept in the office, but ............... stored off-site must be requested two days in advance.
Wrong!
"those" is correct because it refers to the documents stored off-site, not the documents in the visible adjacent clause.
10The new platform is faster and easier to maintain. ............... , it gives users less control over how their data are displayed.
Wrong!
"On the other hand" is correct because the second clause presents the other side of a trade-off.
11The policy is not retrospective. ............... , it applies only to contracts signed after 1 January.
Wrong!
"That is" is correct because the second clause clarifies exactly what the first claim means.
12............... the figures are independently verified, the journal will not publish the article.
Wrong!
"Unless" is correct because continued publication depends on the figures being independently verified; without verification, publication stops.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- The committee published the raw data; Consequently , criticism of the methodology became more specific and less speculative.
- External reviewers criticised the proposal as too cautious. By contrast , the internal team regarded the same restraint as its main strength.
- The contract requires both ethics approval and a confidentiality clause, but only the latter is legally binding after the project ends.
- This decision surprised the auditors: the company had recorded projected income as if it had already been earned.
- The deficit was reduced by adjusting the timetable rather than by abandoning the project altogether.
- Once the legal review has been completed, the archive will thereafter be opened to external researchers.
- The council approved the extension because the engineers had demonstrated that the old bridge could support the additional load.
- The report draws on interviews with more than two hundred residents; however , it says almost nothing about the objections raised at the public meeting.
- Several documents are kept in the office, but those stored off-site must be requested two days in advance.
- The new platform is faster and easier to maintain. On the other hand , it gives users less control over how their data are displayed.
- The policy is not retrospective. That is , it applies only to contracts signed after 1 January.
- Unless the figures are independently verified, the journal will not publish the article.

