Phrasal Verbs and correct usage

Use the correct forms of the phrasal verbs to fill in the blanks and make
meaningful sentences

1) Talk around: to avoid talking about (a particular subject) especially because it

is difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing
2) Talk around: persuade someone to agree to something
3) Talk down: to talk to someone as if they were less important than you
4) Talk into: Convince (someone) by talking and suggesting
5) Talk out of: Talk to someone in order to dissuade them from doing something
6) Talk through: Tell someone step by step how to do something
7) Talk through: Comfort someone as they endure trauma; to help someone consider an
issue or see certain aspects of it
8) Talk through: to discuss something in detail and solve an issue
8
1. The idea of a tech-helpline is that a real person will
hopefully ..................you......8).......... steps to be followed to fix a
problem, but all too often there is only a chat-bot at the other end.

2. Soofiya didn't want to move abroad but Riyaz .............her.4)........... it.

3. She's not happy about the proposed move to Mumbai, but I'm sure I
can .......her...3)..........

4. The management tried to...........7)...him............. of leaving, but it was a

case of too little, too late.

5. They were having difficulties in their relationship, as every couple is bound to

have, but they both had the capacity to listen
and .......8).....things...............

6. They've been .......................1).............. the real issue rather than

addressing it directly.

7. I hate the way Samantha ............3).................. to people if she thinks

they aren't well-educated.

8. He keeps .....................8)............... the issue of workplace morale

whenever I bring it up with him during our weekly meetings.

9. He had a hard time ..........2)........them..................., but they

finally agreed to postpone the event.

10. A Counsellor will usually ...7)............................... your problems

and help you to think about what to do next.

11. It was common for doctors to .......6)........................to patients

once-upon-a-time, but online reviews and Google ratings are changing that.

12. When the pilot suddenly died of cardiac arrest, a trainee co-pilot took over to
be ...............8)................. a safe landing procedure by a flying
instructor in the control tower.

Answers
1. talk you through (6)
2. talked her into (4)
3. talk her around (2)
4. talk him out of (5)
5. talk things through (8)
6. talking around (1)
7. talks down (3)
8. talking around (1)
9. talking them around (2)
10. talk through (7)
11. talk down (3)
12. talked through (6)
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Reading comprehension.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:

I remember a pre-verbal, Autistic nine-year-old with severe learning difficulties –

I’ll call him Peter – who would often walk off on his own and engage in self-
stimulatory behaviours rather than the class activities. When asked to walk down a
corridor to another room, Peter usually sat down and needed encouragement to
continue. Yet it was a different story when he was introduced to a therapy dog – a
Golden Retriever called Harry. Yes, after first going to Harry, Peter soon moved
away and engaged in self-stimulation. But then Harry walked over and nudged the
little boy’s arm or placed his snout on Peter’s legs as if to say: ‘I am here’ and
grabbing his attention. As the sessions went on, Peter spent less time engaging in
self-stimulatory behaviours and more time interacting with Harry. When it was time
for the future sessions, I saw Peter run down the corridor to the room where Harry
was.

The visible improvements didn’t stop there – Peter’s teachers told me that he was
producing more vocalisations in class, and his parents had noticed the same at
home. These sounds were interpreted as Peter trying to communicate with the adults,
which was particularly the case on the days he’d seen Harry. His parents and
teachers saw this as quick progress, which had not been achieved with other
interventions.

Individual stories like this suggest that therapy dogs might well be the magic pill
for unlocking engagement and children’s communication, apparently justifying the
positive newspaper headlines and blogs about the benefits of pet ownership and
visiting therapy animals. Many teachers and parents have also expressed their
excitement at the prospect of animals helping the children under their care.

1) In "would often walk off on his own and engage in self-stimulatory behaviours
rather than the class activities"
i) would often walk off on his own
ii) self-stimulatory behaviours
iii) class activities,
'rather than' is used to convey
a) Peter prefers (iii) to (ii)
b) Peter prefers (ii) to (iii)
c) Peter prefers (i) and (ii) to (iii)

2) Another word for corridor is

a) portico
b) porch
c) veranda
d) none of the above

3) 'magic pill' means

a) medicine with magical properties
b) drug with beneficial consequences
c) anything with a positive outcome

4) "it was a different story" refers to

a) another story about other boy
b) something very different from an already discussed scenario
c) the story of the Golden Retriever, Harry

5) The 'visible improvements' in the passage are

a) Peter being able to give attention to something other than himself
b) Peter showing emotion/excitement to see a dog he was familiar with
c) Peter trying to make speech sounds
d) All of the above
Phrasal Verbs and correct usage

Fill in the blanks with the following to make meaningful sentences

a) Stick up: to continue upwards further than the end of a surface or the main part
of an object
b) Stick up for: Defend or protect/ Speak or act in defence
c) Stick with: Follow or adhere to
d) Stick with: Follow loyally
e) Stick with: Persist in using or employing
Answer Key
1-c, 2-d, 3-c, 4-b, 5-d

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.................
a) Stick up: to continue upwards further than the end of a surface or the main part
of an object
b) Stick up for: Defend or protect/ Speak or act in defence
c) Stick with: Follow or adhere to
d) Stick with: Follow loyally
e) Stick with: Persist in using or employing

1) They prefer, in the end, to.......c) or e)..........what they know.

2) He said that he was going to ..........d)...... the traditions established by

his grandfather.

3) Can't you ........b)..........yourself sometimes?

4) He preferred to ....c)............... the herd mentality

5) Be fair but firm with small children. Once you have set a bedtime for
them,...c)............ it.

6) Remya decided to ..........e)....... Maruti, even when she changed cars every
five years, as they have the largest network of service centres.

7) Most people tend to .........e)..or c)............... food they have grown up

with and don't experiment much.

8) Many men began to ...........b)..........the rights of women and children after

the "Me Too" movement.

9) The Congress party wants to ........d).............. the Nehru clan, though the
rest of the country seems rather tired of democracy being subverted by dynastic
politics

10) His hair was slick, but some of it did ......a)........... behind his neck

11) "....................a)........ your arms and don't act smart" the gunman said.

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...............
1) Initially I was thinking of the steps I had went through for coming up to such a
height.

Initially I was thinking of the steps I had gone through to come up to such
heights.

2) The doctors did assured them that I was completely fine, that I had a good
muscle tone, a strong cry and that I was just like any other “normal child”.

The doctors [did assure]/ [assured] them that I was completely fine, that I had a
good muscle tone, a strong cry and that I was just like any other “normal child”.

3) Yet another year, another set of students preparing for the same exam, everyone
have only one dream, IIT!

Yet another year, another set of students preparing for the same exam, everyone
having only one dream, IIT!
or,
Yet another year, another set of students are preparing for the same exam, everyone
having only one dream, IIT!
Note:
Consider the following:

> Students are waiting

> Children are crying
> Everyone is asking for the answer

Students and children are the plural subjects of the first two sentences. As there
is 'more than one' (ie:plural) we say 'are' in the context of those sentences.
'Everyone' also means 'all the people' (in any given context) ...ie: 'more than
one', but, like with “someone,” “anyone,” etc., the emphasis is on the 'one'/
singular entity in the pronoun and will take a singular verb (is, not are).

Secondly, while it is possible to say

Everyone is laughing
Everyone is sleeping
Everyone is eating dinner, ie: everyone is .... (any -ing from of most verbs)

"everyone is having" is not standard usage. We may hear things like "Everyone is
having fever" or "Everyone is having high hopes" - again, incorrect usage

> Everyone is running a fever or Everyone has a fever is correct

> Everyone has high hopes is correct.

So please remember these special things about "Everyone"

The present continuous 'ing' form of the verb is used for something that is true at
the time of speaking

4) I still remember the day when I first got into coaching classes for preparing
for an one-day exam.

I still remember the day when I first got into coaching classes for preparing for a
one-day exam.

'an' is used with words starting with a,e,i.o,u, provided the word has a vowel
sound. "one" sounds like "won" (consonant sound) so it is 'a one-day'

5) India has a unique education system designed to uphold its nation’s culture,
history, values, and customs.

India has a unique education system designed to uphold [its] / [the nation’s]
culture, history, values, and customs.