Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1With the minister still speaking, the market reaction is ............... in real time, before the official transcript has even been released.
Wrong!
"unfolding" frames the speech and the market reaction as simultaneous developments.
2When the inquiry reports next spring, the episode will ............... have become a test case in ministerial accountability.
Wrong!
"by then" fits a future vantage point from which the inquiry will look back on a completed episode.
3By the time the corrected figures are published, the agency ............... lost the trust it needs to defend them.
Wrong!
"will have" is required because the judgment is framed as already completed before the later benchmark 'by the time'.
4The court ............... delivered a ruling that changes how the statute will be read.
Wrong!
"has just" frames the ruling as fresh news with present relevance; "had just" would need a past reference point.
5............... the past decade, the court has repeatedly narrowed the scope of the regulator's discretion.
Wrong!
"Over" with 'the past decade' frames the pattern retrospectively from the present point; "since" needs a starting point, not a period.
6The leak emerged ............... the report was still being drafted, which makes the timing politically explosive.
Wrong!
"while" presents the drafting process as the background during which the leak occurred.
7Publicly the board denied any shift in policy; ..............., it was quietly revising the guidance.
Wrong!
"meanwhile" sets up a simultaneous parallel development during the same interim period.
8It is tempting to treat the collapse as unforeseeable, but the warning signs were already visible ............... to anyone reading the debt schedule.
Wrong!
"then" locates the warning in the earlier decision-making moment rather than in present hindsight.
9The committee ............... yesterday that it would reopen the consultation after the backlash.
Wrong!
"announced" is required because 'yesterday' fixes the announcement in finished past time.
10So far, the review ............... driven less by evidence than by the need to appear decisive.
Wrong!
"has been" fits 'so far', which evaluates the period up to the present.
11The sharpest commentary appeared ............... the vote rather than after the result was known.
Wrong!
"in the run-up to" places the commentary before the vote, as signalled by 'rather than after'.
12............... the minister conceded the figures were provisional, the press conference shifted from policy to credibility.
Wrong!
"Once" marks the shift as beginning after the concession was made.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- With the minister still speaking, the market reaction is unfolding in real time, before the official transcript has even been released.
- When the inquiry reports next spring, the episode will by then have become a test case in ministerial accountability.
- By the time the corrected figures are published, the agency will have lost the trust it needs to defend them.
- The court has just delivered a ruling that changes how the statute will be read.
- Over the past decade, the court has repeatedly narrowed the scope of the regulator’s discretion.
- The leak emerged while the report was still being drafted, which makes the timing politically explosive.
- Publicly the board denied any shift in policy; meanwhile, it was quietly revising the guidance.
- It is tempting to treat the collapse as unforeseeable, but the warning signs were already visible then to anyone reading the debt schedule.
- The committee announced yesterday that it would reopen the consultation after the backlash.
- So far, the review has been driven less by evidence than by the need to appear decisive.
- The sharpest commentary appeared in the run-up to the vote rather than after the result was known.
- Once the minister conceded the figures were provisional, the press conference shifted from policy to credibility.