Complete the following sentences with an appropriate word or phrase. This grammar exercise tests your understanding of sentence patterns and structures.
1The higher you climb, ...............
Wrong!
The double comparative structure needs "the colder it gets" after the comma.
2The more he reads, the ............... he understands.
Wrong!
The double comparative phrase is "the less" in this sentence.
3The government should pay attention to the problems of ...............
Wrong!
Use "the" + adjective to refer to a group of people: "the unemployed" means unemployed people. It takes no plural -s.
4They saw the criminal ............... open the door.
Wrong!
After "saw the criminal," the bare infinitive "break" is correct.
5The strike ............... if the workers' demands had been granted.
Wrong!
The passive third conditional form is "would have been called off" here.
6If you ............... more carefully, you wouldn't make so many mistakes.
Wrong!
The second conditional uses the past simple form "listened" in the if-clause.
7I consider ............... to have this opportunity of welcoming you.
Wrong!
The object-complement pattern after consider is "it a privilege" in this sentence.
8The leader said that it would be unwise ............... the democratic demands of the people.
Wrong!
The negative infinitive is "not to accept" after unwise.
9He said that the climate ............... his health during his years abroad.
Wrong!
Reported speech after a past reporting verb uses "had affected" for the earlier situation.
10As soon as the clients ..............., he locked up his office and went home.
Wrong!
The earlier completed action is expressed with "had left" here.
11For centuries, the Leaning Tower of Pisa ............... more and more.
Wrong!
For an action continuing up to now, use "has been leaning" in this sentence.
12He brushed ............... all the plans that I had carefully formulated.
Wrong!
The phrasal verb meaning dismissed is "aside" in "brushed aside".
Answers
- The higher you climb, the colder it gets.
- The more he reads, the less he understands.
- The government should pay attention to the problems of the unemployed.
- They saw the criminal break open the door.
- The strike would have been called off if the workers’ demands had been granted.
- If you listened more carefully, you wouldn’t make so many mistakes.
- I consider it a privilege to have this opportunity of welcoming you.
- The leader said that it would be unwise not to accept the democratic demands of the people.
- He said that the climate had affected his health during his years abroad.
- As soon as the clients had left, he locked up his office and went home.
- For centuries, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been leaning more and more.
- He brushed aside all the plans that I had carefully formulated.