Directions (1-15): In each question, the word at the top is used in four different ways, numbered a-d. Choose the option in which the usage of the word is INCORRECT or INAPPROPRIATE.
Q1. Follow
(a) He followed up the meeting with a report.
(b) The project went wrong when the staff failed to follow through.
(c) The film follows down the original.
(d) He left an hour ago and I’ll be following on soon.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q2. Scout
(a) We’d better scout up a replacement for her.
(b) I scouted round for a bargain.
(c) The researcher spent months scouting for the answer.
(d) We scouted around to find the best price.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q3. Send
(a) I sent my food back because it was overcooked.
(b) The police were sent in to quell the riot as the protesters had started burning cars and wrecking shops.
(c) The football striker was sent off for arguing with the referee’s decision.
(d) They sent for a fact list to all their existing customers.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q4. Hang
(a) You can hang out your jacket in the front closet.
(b) What are you doing? - - I’m just hanging out.
(c) Don’t hang up. I’m going to change phones.
(d) Maria and Freya usually hang around the beach after school.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q5. Hold
(a) The police held the demonstrators back while the politicians entered the building.
(b) We should hold back on making dinner until your parents arrive.
(c) The teacher held Frank back a year, so he couldn’t enter fifth grade.
(d) Mr. Johnson held the dog off while we crossed the yard.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q6. Pass
(a) Jennifer passed on the work to someone else.
(b) After battling cancer for several years, he finally passed out at the age of 87.
(c) He tried to pass the fake watch off as a real Rolex.
(d) We need to pass our exams.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q7. Pick
(a) Diane picked out a lovely dress for the dance.
(b) What time are you going to pick me up?
(c) Business is really picking out this quarter.
(d) It’s possible to pick up enough English in two weeks to get by on your trip to Los Angeles.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q8. Eat
(a) The heavy rains ate away at the sandstone cliffs.
(b) Ken ate on the cookies.
(c) We usually eat in instead of going out for dinner.
(d) They eat out once a week.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q9. ZIP
(a) He was being stupid in the meeting, so we told him to zip around.
(b) We zipped around the supermarket to get the shopping done.
(c) The motorbike zipped by the cars stuck in the traffic jam.
(d) He told me to zip it, so I said nothing.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q10. Come
(a) I just knew the manager would come and solve the problem.
(b) They come up as very rude.
(c) No one can come up with a good advertisement for the toothpaste.
(d) Bob has come up with a welding torch and some scrap iron.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q11. Stop
(a) After the terrorist attacks on London, tourists stopped coming for a while.
(b) I didn’t have time to talk so I told him to stop back later when I had some free time.
(c) I stopped behind after the meeting to talk to Bill.
(d) I’m going to stop in Jim’s house on the way home.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q12. Bang
(a) He banged the door while going out.
(b) He’s always banging on the counter.
(c) He’s banging on in the kitchen.
(d) She banged the car again.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q13. Kick
(a) The budget cuts are starting to kick about and people are struggling.
(b) I’ll kick the dog if it comes to bite me.
(c) The police kicked the door down.
(d) Children love to kick the ball.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q14. Tag
(a) He tagged the clothes will the correct price tags.
(b) You’re off to the cinema; can we tag on?
(c) He tagged me in a few comments on facebook.
(d) The post was tagged with keywords.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Q15. Jump
(a) I’d jump at the chance to go and live in Japan.
(b) He jumped over the hurdle in the race.
(c) The cat jumped off the sofa to catch the mouse.
(d) Everyone jumped at me and tried to kill me when I raised the issue.
(e) All of the above are correct usage
Solutions
S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option (c) is the answer as the sentence is grammatically incorrect; the correct sentence is “The film follows on from the original.” The intended meaning of which is to be a part of something i.e. the film is a part of the original version.
S2. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option (c) is the answer as it intends to state that the researcher spent too many months searching for the answer, so the correct phrase applied here should be “The researcher spent months scouting out the answer.”
S3. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) is the answer because Sent for means to call someone and it doesn’t fit here as the intended meaning of the sentence is that the company has sent a fact list to all of its existing customers, so the correct to be used is ‘sent out’ and not ‘sent for’.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) is the answer as to hang out means to stay in a place for fun whereas the intended meaning of the sentence is to hang the jacket in front of the closet so the correct phrase to be used here is hang up which means to suspend something somewhere.
S5. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) is the answer as the intended meaning of the sentence here is to delay the preparation of the dinner till parents arrive and hold back means to restrain or not allow, which doesn’t fit in.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) is the answer. It is incorrect because the intended meaning of the sentence is that fighting with cancer the person died at age of 87, and for this we use the phrase passed away.
S7. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option (c) is the answer; the correct phrase to be used here is ‘picking up’ which means ‘to increase’.
S8. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) is the answer because the sentence is grammatically incorrect. The correct sentence is ‘Ken ate the cookies up’ which means that Ken greedily ate all the cookies.
S9. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) is the answer. The phrase used is incorrect as ‘zip around’ means to move about quickly, so the correct phrase to be used here is ‘zip up’.
S10. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) is the answer, as to ‘come up’ means to ‘procure or conceive’ and the intended meaning of the sentence is that they seem to be very rude for which the phrase ‘come across’ which means ‘appear’ should be used.
S11. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) is the answer; the correct phrase to be used here is ‘stop by’.
S12. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option (c) is the answer. The correct phrase which should be used here is ‘he’s banging about in the kitchen’.
S13. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) is the answer. Kick about means to discuss which does not fits in here. The correct phrase to be used here is Kick in.
S14. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) is the answer, the correct phrase is tag along; it means to Accompany someone, especially if they haven’t specifically invited you.
S15. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) is the answer; the phrase should be jump on, which if written here will mean to attack or to criticize.
