Grammar & Vocabulary

What is the meaning of the prefix 'micro-' in the word 'microorganism'?

• ALarge
• BDead
• CExtremely small✓
• DMany

Answer: The prefix 'micro-' comes from Greek and means extremely small. A microorganism is a living organism too small to be seen with the naked eye.

Choose the correct sentence:

• AShe has been living in London since three years.
• BShe has lived in London for three years.✓
• CShe is living in London since three years.
• DShe lived in London since three years.

Answer: The present perfect 'has lived' is used with 'for' to express a duration of time that continues to the present. 'Since' is used with a point in time, not a period.

Which word is a synonym for 'investigate'?

• AIgnore
• BExamine✓
• CAccept
• DDismiss

Answer: 'Examine' is a synonym for 'investigate', meaning to look into something carefully and systematically. The other options have opposite or unrelated meanings.

Select the correct form of the verb: 'Neither the students nor the teacher ___ present yesterday.'

• Awere
• Bwas✓
• Care
• Dhave been

Answer: When 'neither...nor' connects a singular subject (the teacher) closest to the verb, the verb agrees with that subject. 'Teacher' is singular, so 'was' is correct. This is the proximity rule.

Choose the sentence that uses the passive voice correctly:

• AThe report wrote by the committee last week.
• BThe report was written by the committee last week.✓
• CThe report had wrote by the committee last week.
• DThe committee was written the report last week.

Answer: The passive voice requires 'to be' + past participle. 'Was written by' correctly forms the past simple passive. The other options contain errors in auxiliary verb use or word order.

What does 'ubiquitous' mean?

• ARare and difficult to find
• BPresent everywhere or seemingly everywhere at the same time✓
• COld-fashioned and no longer used
• DExtremely valuable and expensive

Answer: 'Ubiquitous' means appearing or found everywhere. In academic writing, one might say 'smartphones have become ubiquitous in modern society.'

Which sentence correctly uses a relative clause?

• AThe scientist who she discovered the vaccine won a Nobel Prize.
• BThe scientist, discovered the vaccine, won a Nobel Prize.
• CThe scientist who discovered the vaccine won a Nobel Prize.✓
• DThe scientist which discovered the vaccine won a Nobel Prize.

Answer: 'Who' is the correct relative pronoun for people. The clause 'who discovered the vaccine' correctly modifies 'the scientist'. Option A has a redundant 'she'; option D incorrectly uses 'which' for a person.

Choose the correct collocation: 'The company decided to ___ a new policy on data privacy.'

• Amake
• Bdo
• Cimplement✓
• Dcommit

Answer: 'Implement a policy' is the standard collocation in academic and professional English. While 'make' can collocate with 'policy' in some contexts (make a policy decision), 'implement' is the most precise and common choice for putting a policy into effect.

Which word best completes the sentence? 'The discovery of antibiotics ___ revolutionised modern medicine.'

• Ahad undeniably
• Bundeniably has
• Cundeniably
• Dhas undeniably✓

Answer: 'Has undeniably revolutionised' is the correct present perfect form with the adverb 'undeniably' placed between the auxiliary 'has' and the past participle 'revolutionised' — the standard position for adverbs in verb phrases.

What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'?

• AThey are interchangeable in academic writing
• B'Affect' is typically a verb meaning to influence; 'effect' is typically a noun meaning a result✓
• C'Effect' is a verb; 'affect' is a noun
• D'Affect' relates only to emotions; 'effect' relates only to science

Answer: 'Affect' is most commonly a verb ('Pollution affects health'), while 'effect' is most commonly a noun ('The effects of pollution are severe'). Confusing these is a frequent error in academic writing.

Identify the error in this sentence: 'Despite of the rain, the match continued as scheduled.'

• A'match' should be 'game'
• B'Despite of' is incorrect; 'despite' does not take 'of'✓
• C'continued' should be in the present tense
• D'as scheduled' is too informal

Answer: 'Despite' is a preposition used without 'of'. The correct forms are 'despite the rain' or 'in spite of the rain'. 'Despite of' is a common learner error.

Which sentence best demonstrates a concessive clause?

• A'The experiment failed because the temperature was too high.'
• B'Although the results were inconclusive, the researchers continued their study.'✓
• C'The researchers continued the study and the results were inconclusive.'
• D'The results were so inconclusive that the researchers stopped.'

Answer: A concessive clause introduces a contrast using words like 'although', 'even though', or 'while'. Option B correctly contrasts the inconclusive results with the decision to continue.