BBC | British Council

Topics: Communications
For each of the six questions choose the one correct answer.

1. How many languages do you ________?

a. talk
b. say
c. speak
d. tell

2. Eye contact, smiling, and the way you stand or sit are all examples of ___________
language.
a. body
b. physical
c. bodily
d. animal

3. I’m fluent ____ French, Spanish and German.

a. at
b. of
c. to
d. in

4. When he _______ a speech at the wedding, he was really nervous.

a. did
b. told
c. made
d. said

5. Which of the following is another word for your native language?

a. mother tongue
b. father tongue
c. brother tongue
d. sister tongue

6. Three of the following idioms mean ‘I didn’t understand’ which one means ‘I
understood very well’
a. ‘It was all Greek to me’
b. ‘He was speaking double-dutch’
c. ‘It was as clear as crystal’
d. ‘It was as clear as mud’

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BBC | British Council

Topic: Communications - Answers

1.
a. talk - You talk about something, but not ‘talk a language’.
b. say - You say something, but not ‘say a language’.
c. speak - I speak a language, I speak Japanese. Correct
d. tell - You tell somebody something, but not ‘tell a language’.

2.
a. body - 90% of our communication is body language. Correct

3.
a. at - To be fluent at French is not correct.
b. of - To be fluent of French is not correct.
c. to - To be fluent to French is not correct.
d. in - If you speak a language very well, you are fluent in it. Correct

4.
c. made - Politicians have to make lots of speeches. Correct

5.
a. mother tongue - You can ask someone what his or her ‘mother tongue’ is.
Correct

6.
a. ‘It was all Greek to me’ - ‘It was all Greek to me’ means I didn’t understand at all.
b. ‘He was speaking double-dutch’ - ‘He was speaking double-dutch’ means I didn’t
understand at all.
c. ‘It was as clear as crystal’ - ‘It was as clear as crystal’ means I understood
very well. Correct
d. ‘It was as clear as mud’ - ‘It was as clear as mud’ means I didn’t understand at all.

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