Grammar and Vocabulary 5

1. Cloze passage

"You paid forty dollars for this miserable ______ of stamps?" Susan
asked in disbelief. Michael put the stamps carefully ______ his
album. It was no ______ telling Susan about his precious stamp
collection. She, ______ all girls, is only interested ______ glossy
fashion magazines with pouting women in designer ______ and
articles like 'How to lose weight ______ eating less'.

This was ______ ordinary set of stamps. Michael had bought them
______ Daniel as Daniel needed ______ to buy a new ipod. Daniel
said that it was a gift from his grandmother ______ his last birthday.
The stamps dated ______ the early part of the century. There were
only a ______ sets left in circulation today.

"Grandma ______ it's a priceless antique," Daniel had ______ him.

"My mum would be very angry with me _____ she knew I'm selling it
to you."

Susan interrupted his reveries.

"Mother should cut ______ on your pocket money, the way you
______ it on these silly stamps," she muttered.

Michael felt irritated. Susan was always finding ______ with him
about the way he ______ his money.

"What do you know?" Michael snapped back.

2. Prepositions

1. You will not be let ______ easily the next time you are
caught.
2. You would expect a good friend to stick __ you through
thick and thin.
3. We are relying ______ you because you said that you are
familiar with this place.
4. The winners played ______ Victoria Institution in the
finals of the tennis tournament.
5. I managed to inform him ______ my intended visit to his
uncle's house.
6. This type of fish feeds ______ insects only.
7. The bull rushed ______ me as I was running ______ the
field.
8. As she was pressed ___ time, she only skimmed ______
the report.
9. They were talking ___ the new teacher when I went
______ the room.
10. We had been searching ______ her for almost three hours
when I heard her calling ______ help.
11. The old man died ______ cancer. There was nothing the
doctors could do to cure him ______ the disease.
12. I advise you not to turn ______ the offer which other
people would jump ______.
13. As she could not make ______ her classmate's writing, she
gave ______ the idea of copying the notes.
14. The headmaster disapproves ______ students coming late
to school.
15. She frowns ______ those people who gossip ______ their
neighbours and friends.

3. Choose the correct option to complete the idioms. Then

determine their meaning.

1. Leave them alone! You simply can't teach old ______ new ______.
(A) dogs ... tricks (B)men ... magic
(C) cats ... moves (D)parrots ... words
2. He pulled up his ______ and started all over again.
(A) collar (B) gun (C) socks (D) sleeves
3. You should set a good example and practice what you ______.
(A) teach (B) preach (C) reach (D) act
4. I know ______ was not built in a day, but we have been spending
too much time on this.
(A) Singapore (B)Britain (C) Rome (D) China
5. Although he offers a lot of ideas, there is little substance. After all,
empty ______ make the most noise.
(A) tins (B) vessels (C)bowls (D) bottles
6. Do not be so hard on him. To ______ is human, to forgive is
divine.
(A) fail (B) err (C) fault (D) mistake
7. It is better to ask for their help because many hands make ______
work.
(A) easy (B) light (C) efficient (D) more
8. The grand building is nothing but a white ______.
(A) dog (B) tiger (C) elephant (D) rabbit
9. It was like jumping out of the ______ pan into the fire when he
changed his job.
(A) sizzling (B) frying (C) hot (D) heated
10. You were hitting him below the ______ when you asked his sister
for his project plans.
(A) face (B) belt (C) waist (D) chin

4. Complete the table

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
apologise
solid
medicine
inspiring
speed
thrillingly

5. In the following exercises, turn the sentence pairs into single

compound sentences, each with a coordinating conjunction. You
can rearrange or add words in the sentence to make it sound
better, but only if it's necessary.

1. The black dog has won many prizes. He doesn't know many tricks.
2. She saw a cat run in front of her. She fell down while roller-
skating.
3. There was a meteor shower. The crew did not know how to avoid
the meteors.
4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua. I started to save my money.
5. Gillian did not like to read. She was not very good at it.
6. Pam liked Wayne. Leena also liked Wayne.
7. The little boy did not like going to school. He went anyway.
8. You can cry like a baby. You can clean your room like an adult.

6. fill in the blanks with "is" or "are".

1. The crew __ asleep in their bunks down in the hold of the ship.
2. Several unusual species of birds __ found in this area.
3. When a young deer __ motionless, its colouring will hide it well.
4. The committee __ ready to make its recommendations public.
5. Both apparatus __ available for your use.
6. The family __ fighting among themselves constantly.
7. The fish in the aquarium __ waiting for their daily feeding.
8. Each of those species of birds __ common in Texas.
9. All sheep __ dipped in the spring to kill the parasites.
10.The press __ requested to show their credentials to the guard.
7. Change from active voice to passive voice

1. The company has cut all the salaries. All the saleries have been cut
by the company
2. The bank manager kept me waiting for half an hour.i was kept
waiting for half an hour by the Bank Manager
3. Employers must pay all travel expenses for this training course. All
travel expenses for this training course must be paid by the employers
4. Do you suppose your brother could have written such a letter? Do
you suppose that such a letter can be written by your brother
5. They use a computer to do that job nowadays. A computer is used
to do that job nowadays
6. Has anyone ever asked you for your opinion? Have you ever been
asked for your opinion
7. Nobody informed the police that there had been a mistake.the
police was not informed that there had been a mistake.
8. Where will your company send you next year? Where will you be
sent by your company next year
9. The news about the famine distressed Josephine. Josephine was
distressed by the news of the famine
10. The children shouldn't have opened that parcel.The parcel
shouldn’t have been opened by the children

8. Fill in the gaps with necessary words.

as well as both ... and either ... or
neither ... nor not only ... but also whether ...or
1. The weather on Sunday will be _both_ sunny __and_ warm.
2. My cousin is attractive and intelligent _as well as _ considerate.
3. The objective is not only__ to identify the problem __but also_ to
solve.
4. We can use the bike _not only__ to ride to school __but also to go
to the grocery store.
5. To reach your goal, you must plan and work __as well as dream.
6. _neither___ her parents _nor_ her brothers and sisters live in
Wisconsin.
7. The party will celebrate __both our finishing the term and as well
as ___ you getting a new job.
8. We will keep in touch by _either__ writing and calling _or_
visiting each other.
9. To complete his physical education credits, John took both__
swimming ___and__ golf.
10. This book is _neither __ interesting _nor__ useful.
11. __whether__ we want to admit it _or_ not, we all wish everyone
would like us.
12. _both__ he _and___ his brother must have done this.