5
Spis treści
Grammar Practice ………………………………………… 7
Definite, indefinite and zero articles ………………………………………… 9
Modal verbs ………………………………………… 13
Gerund or Infinitive ………………………………………… 17
Phrasal verbs ………………………………………… 21
Prepositions and prepositional phrases ………………………………………… 28
Vocabulary Practice
…………………………………………
33
Confused words ………………………………………… 35
Word formation ………………………………………… 50
Collocations and idioms ………………………………………… 58
Compounds ………………………………………… 64
Punctuation Practice
…………………………………………
70
English in Use, Exam Practice
…………………………………………
73
Part 1 ………………………………………… 74
Part 2 ………………………………………… 84
Part 3 ………………………………………… 89
Part 4 ………………………………………… 94
Key to Exercises ………………………………………… 105
17
Gerund or infinitive
Put the verbs in brackets into –ing or infinitive form (bare infinitive or to-
infinitive).
1. I’m afraid we can’t afford ………………………… (buy) a new car. We have to
save some more money and wait till next year.
2. Oh dear! I forgot ………………………… (send) her a Christmas card! She
won’t talk to me any more!
3. He advises me ………………………… (not wear) my favourite pink shirt for
the job interview, as the boss hates that colour.
4. I’m sure I sent that letter! I remember ………………………… (put) it in the post
box round the corner.
5. I think she is a great actress! I saw her ………………………… (act) in a play
at the National Theatre last week. She held the audience spellbound.
6. As we were passing by our neighbours’ house, we heard Sam
………………………… (rehearse) for the concert.
7. Now that he’s got married, he considers ………………………… (move) to
a bigger flat.
8. She was made …..…………………… (accept) her new duties because the
boss threatened ……………………… (dismiss) her if she didn’t accept them.
9. Jack denied ………………………… (rummage) around in her papers. He
claimed that the mess was due to a wind’s blow.
10. I regret ………………………… (not go) with my friends to Ireland. They had
such a wonderful time there!
11. God knows why I agreed ………………………… (look after) their little son
while they were on holiday! Never in my life have I seen such a naughty kid!
12. If you don’t finish this project till the end of the week, you risk
………………………… (lose) the job.
13. He warned me ………………………… (not travel) in the mountains alone, as
one might easily get lost.
18
14. My dad encouraged me ………………………… (try) again in spite of
difficulties.
15. He probably still hasn’t got the money to pay me back, and that’s why he
avoids ………………………… (meet) me.
16. The defendant offered a bribe, but the judge refused …………………………
(take) it.
17. The airline strives ………………………… (meet) the highest safety standards.
18. Margaret can’t help ………………………… (binge) on chocolate when she
feels depressed.
19. It’s no use ………………………… (try) to sell state-of-the-art computers to
primary schools as they simply can’t afford this.
20. Derek is such a womaniser! He can’t resist ………………………… (pick up) all
nice girls that he meets at work.
21. The job involves ………………………… (be) on call 24 hours a day.
22. We regret ………………………… (inform) you that your account is overdrawn.
23. The upset customer insisted on ………………………… (speak) to the manager
immediately.
24. The policeman was accused of ………………………… (traffic in) drugs and
was held in custody.
25. The professor reminded the students ………………………… (come) to the
lecture 30 minutes earlier next week.
26. After several hours of interrogation the suspect eventually admitted
………………………… (take) part in the bank robbery in Northampton last
week.
27. They don’t allow ………………………… (eat) in the library, so you’d better put
your sandwich back in your bag.
28. You shouldn’t hesitate about ………………………… (buy) this dress. You
really look stunning in it.
29. I didn’t dare ………………………… (ask) her this question. It was too personal.
25
II. Complete the sentences with the word which best fits each space.
1. The testimony given by the defendant in court didn’t ……………… up.
The person contradicted himself on several points.
A make B add C prove D join
2. The doctor’s diagnosis is that the patient’s neurosis has been brought
……………… by frequent overwork.
A on B off C in D out
3. There are still some occurrences of strange behaviour among monkeys that
biologists find difficult to ……………… for.
A run B account C stand D reason
4. Calculating the time of your journey to Prague, you will have to ………………
for the possible stops on the way, for example to refuel your car or have some
meals.
A watch B settle C allow D break
5. Whenever there is a climate change I suffer from a thumping headache.
However, as soon as I take a painkiller, the headache starts to ………………
off.
A leave B take C wear D let
6. You can go and buy the tickets for us and I’ll see ……………… the luggage
until you get back.
A over B about C around D to
7. Mr Thomson, can I take tomorrow afternoon off because my fiancée is leaving
Poland for a couple of months and I’d like to ……………… her off?
A walk B drive C see D send
8. The Great Depression set ……………… following the huge and sudden fall of
share prices on the US Stock Exchange in October 1929.
A forth B off C down D in
9. Everyone was ……………… over by his decision to quit a well-paid job and
move over to the countryside.
A taken B thrown C struck D bowled
10. Ladies and gentlemen, now I’d like us to discuss the proposal that Ms Ridley
put ……………… during the last meeting.
A across B in C forward D out
26
11. When the journalist asked her a question in front of many cameras she didn’t
utter a word. We all ……………… her reaction down to stress.
A put B laid C took D turned
12. When the leader of the expedition to the Arctic Circle offered to take him there,
he ……………… at the chance.
A called B jumped C got D came
13. When the professor advanced his theory at a medical conference a couple of
years ago, everyone was sceptical about its validity. However, the latest
research has ……………… it out.
A borne B carried C stood D cleared
14. After the car accident she was in a coma for the whole week but her mother
didn’t lose hope that one day her daughter would ……………… round.
A be B bring C come D go
15. My teenage son kept begging me to buy him the latest version of this computer
game and I finally gave ……………… .
A out B away C over D in
16. I hope the con artist will not get ……………… with the insurance swindle and
will receive a proper punishment.
A away B off C over D out
17. In this book the film director shares the fun he’s had in making films and lets
the reader in ……………… some of the secrets of his success.
A to B on C through D for
18. Students with a high enough grade point average are eligible to ………………
in for the Fulbright Scholarship.
A go B let C stand D put
19. Being the world champions they weren’t going to ……………… for a draw with
a team from the Third Division.
A settle B fall C let D call
20. As for now, foreigners ……………… up only a small proportion of the
student community in our college.
A hold B fill C take D make
35
Similar but different: confused words
Choose the suitable word to fill the sentences. Put the words in the correct
form where needed.
1. sensible/sensitive
a. Don’t be so ………………………… ! It was just a general remark, I didn’t
mean to criticise you.
b. We must think of a ………………………… solution. There is no room for
mistakes any more.
c. This is a very ………………………… issue, and I’d rather not talk about it in
public. I’m afraid my point of view may upset some people.
2. treat/cure
a. Nowadays malaria can be ………………………… with drugs.
b. He has been ………………………… in hospital for two weeks now, but he
has not been ………………………… yet.
c. Some time ago doctors couldn’t ………………………… tuberculosis.
3. disinterested/uninterested
a. We wanted to hear an objective opinion, hence we sought the advice of
a(n) ………………………… counsellor.
b. I told her the story but she seemed ………………………… . She hardly
listened to me.
c. Jack is ………………………… in learning anything, and that’s why he can’t
see any point in going to university.
4. eminent/imminent
a. We can’t do anything to prevent it. The disaster is ……………………… .
36
b. He is an ………………………… scientist, well-known and respected all
around the world.
5. compliment/complement
a. The brown colour of her sweater ………………………… her hazel eyes
perfectly.
b. The best way to win Susan over is to ………………………… her on her new
clothes or hairstyle. She is so vain.
c. They ………………………… each other nicely. She is a dreamy, artistic
soul and he keeps both feet on the ground.
6. stationary/stationery
a. We went to the ………………………… department to buy some envelopes.
b. The car collided with a ………………………… vehicle, but fortunately
nobody was killed.
c. In winter it’s difficult to practice sport outdoors. Therefore, I bought
a ………………………… exercise bike.
7. raise/rise
a. This charity ………………………… money to help homeless people.
b. The bag is too heavy for me to ………………………… it. You can try.
c. The unemployment level ………………………… dramatically recently.
The government must take some measures to improve the situation.
d. Emily ………………………… from the table and went over to the window to
see who had come to visit them.
e. The Prime Minister promises that he has no intention of
………………………… taxes at present.
58
Collocations and Idioms
In the sentences below choose which word or words best fit each gap,
forming the correct collocation or idiomatic phrase.
1. He still bears a …………………… against Tony for choosing somebody else to
represent their company at the conference three years ago.
a) grievance b) complaint c) grudge d) regret
2. When Mrs Jones was leaving the building, she …………………… sight of two
suspicious looking men quarrelling at the car park.
a) got b) caught c) lost d) took
3. Time …………………… and they still hadn’t heard anything from their son.
a) moved b) went c) went on d) passed
4. She has to go on a …………………… course in cooking because next month
she’s getting married.
a) crash b) speedy c) quick d) fast
5. You’re …………………… up the wrong tree if you think that I will lend you
money.
a) barking b) shouting c) climbing d) looking
6. You’ve shaken hands with Bono, I don’t believe you! You’re ……………………
my leg!
a) pushing b) pulling c) holding d) pressing
7. Tomorrow we will go fishing, weather …………………… .
a) agreeing b) allowing c) permitting d) giving
8. It was a …………………… of luck that I won the contest. There were more
knowledgeable people than me.
a) beam b) piece c) drop d) stroke
9. I don’t think that raising the issue during today’s meeting would
…………………… any useful purpose.
a) reach b) provide c) serve d) perform
59
10. That’s unfair that they dismissed him. He was always …………………… his
duties very conscientiously.
a) bringing off b) conducting c) fulfilling d) executing
11. The film didn’t …………………… to my expectations. It was just average.
a) come down b) appeal c) live up d) work up
12. After hours of heated debates the two companies have finally
…………………… an agreement.
a) achieved b) reached c) accomplished d) established
13. Maggie …………………… a great pride in her collection of the Beatles
memorabilia. She shows it to everybody who visits her.
a) takes b) puts c) gets d) finds
14. I’m afraid you missed the …………………… of Prof. Hardcastle’s lecture. He
claimed something completely different.
a) key b) core c) point d) punchline
15. Although Mary and Paul are …………………… apart in personality, they make
an excellent couple.
a) leagues b) ways c) miles d) poles
16. Many serial killers …………………… immense pleasure in tormenting their
victims before killing them.
a) derive b) get c) experience d) take
17. Bill Clinton’s love affair with Monica Lewinsky …………………… the news in
the whole world. People were constantly chatting about it.
a) made b) delivered c) struck d) filled
18. The two countries finally managed to …………………… a deal on oil imports.
a) reach b) produce c) cut d) arrive at
19. Don’t tell Ben about my plans for the evening. You know he can’t
…………………… a secret.
a) save b) keep c) hold d) stop
20. Since Tom was made redundant, they can hardly make ends
…………………… .
a) meet b) cross c) link d) together
64
Compounds
Noun + Noun
I. Match the nouns from column A to the appropriate nouns from column B
to make compound words.
A 1 wind B a benefit
2 eye b light
3 will c esteem
4 chain d chart
5 hay e sore
6 man f arms
7 unemployment g ends
8 self h fall
9 spot I power
10 book j screen
11 mouth k witness
12 fire l fever
13 flow m piece
14 wind n smoker
15 eye o hour
II. Fill the gaps with the correct noun + noun compounds.
1. This old tenement house is an ………………………………… in this newly
rebuilt area.
2. It easy to notice from his behaviour that his promotion to department head
really boosted his …………………………………. .
3. The American law on the possession of ………………………………… is said to
be too lenient.
65
4. Most people get butterflies in their stomachs when they are on stage and about
to step into the ………………………………… .
5. For lottery winners a sudden ………………………………… often comes as
a shock and they don’t have the faintest idea what to do with the money.
6. The original handmade samurai sword still takes a master blacksmith
hundreds of ………………………………… to complete.
7. According to a(n) ………………………………… the bomb went off at exactly
four o’clock p.m.
8. She tried several times to give up smoking, but unfortunately she didn’t have
the ………………………………… to make it.
9. Jim can’t find a job and he receives ………………………………… which is not
enough to make a decent living.
10. When spring comes and most plants start to blossom a lot of people suffer
from ………………………………… .
8. It’s hard to believe that being such a ………………………………… he enjoyed
good health till the end of his life.
9. Driving through the seemingly impenetrable fog he held his face quite close to
the ………………………………… .
10. During the presentation the speaker used a ………………………………… to
show the sales figures for the last year.
11. Not many people realise that the ………………………………… and the way
you blow air through it is crucial for producing a clear sound when playing a
brass instrument.
12. Antique-looking brass ………………………………… go well with old leather
volumes.
76
Bloodthirsty bears
Kenzo Kudo got in his car one day last May and drove out to a mountain near
Sapporo, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, to look for wild vegetables. He never
returned. Police found his body a few hundred meters away with (1)
………………… marks on his legs. What happened, they surmised, is that Kudo
had the misfortune to run (2) ………………… a brown bear.
The Japanese like their (3) ………………… animals as much as anybody,
but they’re out for blood following an increase in bear encounters, which often lead
to maulings. Some farmers have taken (4) ………………… shooting the bears,
(5) ………………… on Hokkaido is perfectly legal.
The problem is that on Hokkaido, more people and bears now live together
in tighter quarters than anywhere else on earth. There are 5.6 million people and
between 2,000 and 3,700 bears on an intensively farmed island about the size of
Pennsylvania. In recent years the bear population has been falling due to rapid
urban (6) …………………, which is putting bears and people on (7) …………………
course. Some of the recent maulings occurred within 30 kilometres of Sapporo,
making (8) ………………… in the city of 2 million.
The spate of close encounters has (9) ………………… more than a century
ago, when fishermen began (10) ………………… Hokkaido rivers of salmon, then
a (11) ………………… of the brown-bear diet. The bears became vegetarians,
eating berries, wild mountain grapes, skunk cabbage and hogweed. From the
1950s to the 1970s loggers began cutting down the old-growth forests and (12)
………………… underbrush that once gave bears an unusually good (13)
………………… . Logging cleared space in the forests that (14) …………………
blackberry and raspberry bushes to thrive. In recent years forest regeneration and
tree farms have replaced berry (15) …………………, and the bears have been
forced to look elsewhere for food, bringing them closer to towns and cities.
adapted from “The trouble with bears” in “Newsweek”
77
1. A bite B injury C wound D cut
2. A against B up C into D on
3. A furry B hairy C fluffy D tousled
4. A on B up C to D a
5. A that B which C what D where
6. A increase B spread C extension D sprawl
7. A dangerous B collision C fighting D conflict
8. A stories B fuss C headlines D disaster
9. A roots B causes C reasons D results
10. A decreasing B depleting C diminishing D depriving
11. A foundation B fundamental C core D staple
12. A lavish B lush C sparse D trimmed
13. A home B safety C lodging D cover
14. A allowed B let C made D prolonged
15. A fields B areas C shreds D patches
94
Part 4 Practice Use the words in the boxes to the right of the text to form a word that fits in
the same numbered space in the text.
Ice Age
Since the latest film by Roland Emmerich (1) ………………………… The Day After
Tomorrow hit the cinemas with its grim tale of mankind struggling with the
approaching freeze, interest in ice ages, also called (2) …………………………, has
increased.
Ice age is a period featuring a (3) ………………………… temperature
plunge by (4) ………………………… 10°C, when polar ice sheets, having many
kilometres in (5) …………………………, creep towards the equator and cover the
Earth’s surface, putting life on the planet at a (6) ………………………… risk. Such
periods are estimated to descend upon the Earth with the (7) …………………………
of 10,000 years.
Ice ages are connected with the water cycle. Normally, sunlight
(8) ………………………… water from the ocean. This water returns to the ocean or
to the sea in the form of rain. During winter, some of the water falls as snow and
ice, but in summer it melts and thus the cycle is maintained. However,
a (9) ………………………… decrease in temperature may cause
(10) ………………………… in the whole water cycle. A (11) …………………………
amount of snow and ice doesn’t melt and piles up on land. Ice sheets at the poles
accumulate and (12) ………………………… begin to creep downwards as glaciers.
With so much current concern over the effects of global warming, the
prospect of the next ice age may seem (13) ………………………… . Nevertheless,
some scientists claim that (14) ………………………… global warming can plunge
average temperatures by several degrees in merely a few decades, and hence
trigger the (15) ………………………… of an ice age. This could be due to the
thawing of Arctic ice which may disrupt deep water currents responsible for the Gulf
95
Stream. The Gulf Stream transports warm (16) ………………………… water to
northern Europe and if it is shut off, the temperature of the currents will plummet
and the northern (17) ………………………… will freeze.
The forecasts of (18) ………………………… vary. Some of them predict
that an ice age can start in the next few decades, while others state that it will be
millennia before it happens.
(1) TITLE
(2) GLACIATE
(3) CONSIDER
(4) APPROXIMATE
(5) THICK
(6) STAGGER
(7) FREQUENT
(8) VAPOUR
(9) SIGNIFY
(10) DISRUPT
(11) SUBSTANCE
(12) CONSEQUENCE
(13) NEGLECT
(14) MAN
(15) SET
(16) EQUATOR
(17) SPHERE
(18) CLIMATE