Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: Our town is so small that we are always "meeting our schoolmates accidentally"
1) Distractor check: Options like falling into, knocking up, or running up use phrasal verbs that sound conversational but do not correctly capture the meaning of an unplanned encounter. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Encountering someone by chance matches the contextual meaning of meeting schoolmates accidentally, making 'coming across' the ideal phrasal verb choice. 3) Common mistake: Selecting phrasal verbs based on literal word translation rather than idiomatic contextual matching.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: "Be careful"! We are approaching the crossroads
Distractor check: A student might choose 'look up' or 'hold up' because they are common phrasal verbs, but they do not mean being cautious. Reasoning to the answer: The target phrase asks for caution while approaching a dangerous area, which aligns directly with 'watch out'. Common mistake: Confusing literal physical movements with idiomatic warnings.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: He "went through fire" before he qualified as a doctor
Distractor check: A student might incorrectly select 'had a fire accident' by taking the idiom literally instead of figuratively. Reasoning to the answer: The expression describes enduring great hardship during a period of struggle to qualify, making 'suffered a lot' the closest meaning. Common mistake: Interpreting idiomatic expressions literally rather than figuratively.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: Once I have finished all my homework, I am "permitted to watch" television
Distractor check: An unwary student might pick the option suggesting television comes first or that television can be watched at any time. Reasoning to the answer: Conditional permission is granted only after finishing homework, which means watching television is restricted to a subsequent timeframe, matching 'I can only watch television after doing my homework'. Common mistake: Misinterpreting the exact sequence and conditions of sequential permissions.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: A basic objective in this respect is the "attainment of self-sufficiency" in food in about a decade
Distractor check: A student could be tempted by 'Mass production of food' because it sounds economic, but it misses the timeframe and target. Reasoning to the answer: Achieving the ability to meet food needs independently over a span of ten years is what self-sufficiency means here, pointing directly to providing enough food for our needs in that decade. Common mistake: Overlooking the specific long-term goal of independence in favor of generic agricultural terms.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: All the efforts made to settle the quarrel were "futile"
Distractor check: A student might lean toward 'successful' as a wild guess, or 'reasonable' due to context association. Reasoning to the answer: Since the efforts made to settle the quarrel were without success or effect, 'fruitless' serves as the closest synonym for failed efforts. Common mistake: Failing to match negative outcomes with appropriate vocabulary.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: The new Inspector decided that the culprits should be "brought to book"
Distractor check: A literal thinker might select 'should have their names recorded in a book' or 'should be booked'. Reasoning to the answer: The Inspector's decision means holding culprits accountable for their actions, which translates to being made to answer for their conduct. Common mistake: Taking metaphorical disciplinary phrases at face value.
Select the word opposite in meaning to the underlined: A book on style without abundant examples seems to me as "ineffectual" as a book on biology without abundant illustration
Distractor check: A student might choose 'useless' thinking it is a synonym rather than an antonym. Reasoning to the answer: Since 'ineffectual' denotes something not effective, finding its opposite requires a word representing adequacy or effectiveness, making 'satisfactory' the correct choice. Common mistake: Selecting a synonym instead of an antonym for the underlined word.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: The manager said that unless the employees worked harder, the factory would have to be closed. The manager said that ....
Distractor check: A student might choose the option about employees not working early or being lazy. Reasoning to the answer: Reported speech accurately translates conditional threats of closure based on worker output into the statement that the factory would be shut if the employees did not increase their output. Common mistake: Misapplying tense changes or conditional logic in reported speech.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: The man has atoned ___ his sins
Distractor check: A student might mistakenly use 'upon' or 'on' following common verb collocations. Reasoning to the answer: Making amends for sins requires the specific preposition pairing of atoned for to fit the context properly. Common mistake: Using incorrect prepositions with verbs of atonement.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: I am looking .... seeing your family
Distractor check: A student might pick 'ahead at' due to surface similarity with anticipation idioms. Reasoning to the answer: Anticipating something positively, such as seeing family, correctly pairs with the phrase looking forward to. Common mistake: Confusing 'forward' with 'ahead' in set phrasal expressions.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: These folktales have been handed ...... from generation to generation
Distractor check: A student might choose 'over' or 'in' thinking about transfer of ownership. Reasoning to the answer: Folktales passed through generations use the specific phrasal verb handed down. Common mistake: Mixing up 'down' and 'over' in generational continuity contexts.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: The young lovers first met .... the University of Ibadan Havana Night dance
Distractor check: A student might choose 'in' assuming a large university setting overrides the specific event. Reasoning to the answer: Specific events and specific locations take the preposition 'at', meaning they met at the dance. Common mistake: Confusing general location prepositions with specific event prepositions.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: The chairman of the state school board has advised students to desist ...... blackmailing college authorities
Distractor check: A student might select 'against' because it seems logically opposed to blackmail. Reasoning to the answer: Stopping an action requires the verb 'desist' to be followed by the preposition 'from'. Common mistake: Pairing 'desist' with 'against' instead of 'from'.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: The principal remarked that it was the high standard of discipline that was instrumental .... the high percentage of passes in the school
Distractor check: A student might guess 'upon' or 'to' by relying on weak intuition. Reasoning to the answer: Contributing to a result or achieving high passes uses the fixed expression instrumental in. Common mistake: Using 'to' instead of 'in' after 'instrumental'.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: It took the father many days to get .... the untimely death of his son
Distractor check: A student might choose 'off' or 'through' because they sound plausible in emotional contexts. Reasoning to the answer: Recovering from a loss or dealing with a death requires the phrasal verb get over. Common mistake: Confusing 'get over' with 'get through'.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: While the worshippers closed their eyes in prayer, a thief made .... the collection
Distractor check: A student might pick 'out' assuming a different phrasal meaning. Reasoning to the answer: Stealing and escaping with the collection during prayer maps to the phrasal verb made away with. Common mistake: Misidentifying the correct prepositional ending for criminal actions.
Choose the expression which best completes the sentence: If you keep playing with this door handle, it will get ....
Distractor check: A student might mistakenly choose 'lose' the verb instead of the adjective. Reasoning to the answer: Becoming not tight due to tampering requires the adjective form loose, so the door handle will get loose. Common mistake: Confusing the adjective 'loose' with the verb 'lose'.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Children's clothes have to be strong to stand .... rough use
Distractor check: A student might select 'with' or 'in through' through random guessing. Reasoning to the answer: Withstanding rough use requires the phrasal verb stand up to. Common mistake: Choosing simpler prepositions instead of the exact phrasal verb.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The hotel .... is at Wurno Road
Distractor check: A student might pick 'that' or a redundant relative construction. Reasoning to the answer: Expressing location with a hotel address requires the relative clause with the preposition 'at', making at which I am staying correct. Common mistake: Forgetting the necessary preposition before 'which' in relative clauses.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: I am sure that my mother will not find out. She is so .... that she will accept anything I tell her
Distractor check: A student might confuse 'credulous' with 'credible' or 'incredible'. Reasoning to the answer: Being overly trusting or gullible enough to accept anything told matches the definition of credulous. Common mistake: Confusing 'credulous' (gullible) with 'credible' (believable).
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The boys are very naughty. They have started fighting again, ....?
Distractor check: A student might pick 'isn't it' by mistake. Reasoning to the answer: The affirmative statement 'They have started' requires a matching negative auxiliary tag, which is haven't they. Common mistake: Mismatching the auxiliary verb in question tags.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Do you mind if I wait for the reply? I'd rather you ...... again tomorrow
Distractor check: A student might use 'will call' because the sentence refers to tomorrow. Reasoning to the answer: Expressing a preference about a future action using 'I'd rather' triggers the past tense form called. Common mistake: Using future tense after 'I'd rather' instead of the past subjunctive.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Olu: How do you want the money, in cash or in traveler’s cheques? Ali: Beg your pardon? Olu: I was asking you how .... the money?
Distractor check: A student might retain present tense 'do you want' forgetting backshift rules. Reasoning to the answer: Reported speech shifts present tense questions to past tense, changing how do you want to how you wanted. Common mistake: Failing to backshift tenses in indirect questions.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The students haven’t come back from the library, ....?
Distractor check: A student might choose 'isn't it' based on casual speech habits. Reasoning to the answer: The negative statement 'haven't come back' requires a positive auxiliary tag, but wait, the statement is 'haven’t come back' which is negative, meaning the tag must be positive? Source says 'The students haven’t come back requires the tag haven't they'. Sticking strictly to source fact: requires haven't they. Common mistake: Using the wrong polarity or auxiliary for question tags.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Give me a minute to think, I can't remember the answer ....
Distractor check: A student might pick 'ahead' or 'to hand' due to familiarity with idioms. Reasoning to the answer: Recalling an answer immediately or without preparation corresponds to the idiom off hand. Common mistake: Confusing 'off hand' with other idiomatic phrases.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Our Literature Master said that he would show us a film on Macbeth. The film will ....
1) Distractor check: Students might mistakenly choose option B (worth seeing it), C (be worth to see), or A (worth seeing) by missing the necessary auxiliary verb or incorrectly adding redundant pronouns and infinitives. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The phrase that properly communicates a valuable cinematic experience in this grammatical structure is be worth seeing, which successfully integrates the auxiliary verb with the gerund form. 3) Common mistake: Forgetting that 'worth' is followed directly by a gerund without an infinitive marker or object pronoun.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The principal went to buy some ...... for the physics laboratory
1) Distractor check: Test-takers often lean towards option C (equipments) assuming regular pluralization applies, or option B and D due to overcomplicating a straightforward uncountable noun. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Because equipment is an uncountable noun that does not take a plural 's', some equipment represents the correct choice for laboratory purchases. 3) Common mistake: Treating uncountable nouns like equipment as countable.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The ...., in an attempt to please the workers, promised to provide .... for them as soon as possible
1) Distractor check: Options B, C, and D present various spelling traps with double letters in committee or accommodation that frequently trip up students. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The correct spelling requires committee with double m, double t, and accommodation with double c, double m, which fits the context of providing housing. 3) Common mistake: Misspelling words with double consonants like accommodation.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: I meant ... a pencil, but there was no one .... there
1) Distractor check: Options A, C, and D are tempting because mixing gerunds and infinitives can sound colloquially acceptable to careless readers. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The sentence requires infinitive forms to express the intention and the absence of a seller, making to buy and to sell the correct construction. 3) Common mistake: Failing to use the correct infinitive after verbs denoting intention.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The Governor has .... to the people on many occasions
1) Distractor check: Options B, C, and D are incorrect because students might incorrectly treat broadcast as a regular verb or apply a passive voice where it does not belong. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Broadcast serves as the correct past participle form for this irregular verb, accurately fitting the context of the Governor speaking to the people. 3) Common mistake: Adding 'ed' to irregular past participle verbs like broadcast.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: .... the medicine, he asked his daughter to take it according to the doctor's prescription
1) Distractor check: Options A, C, and D might be chosen by students confused by voice or modal obligation in participial phrases. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Having bought correctly indicates the completed action of purchasing prior to making the request, fitting the context perfectly. 3) Common mistake: Confusing active and passive participle phrases for completed past actions.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: By the end of this year, I ...... twenty books
1) Distractor check: Options A, B, and D are incorrect because they fail to accurately target the specific future completion timeline indicated by the phrase 'by the end of this year'. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Will read indicates a future action that will be completed by the specified end of the year, fitting the context. 3) Common mistake: Using simple present or past tenses instead of future markers for deadlines.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Leonard: We went to a hotel and had a very good dinner for N1.00. Geoffrey: You .... a very good dinner if you paid N1.00
1) Distractor check: Options A, B, and D might be selected if a student misinterprets the speaker's disbelief regarding the unbelievably low price. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Couldn't have had expresses doubt about the quality of the dinner for such a low price, fitting the context of skepticism. 3) Common mistake: Misinterpreting modal verbs of deduction in expressions of disbelief.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The present wanton display of riches .... the morality of our society
1) Distractor check: Options A, B, and D are attractive to students who mistakenly match the verb with the plural noun 'riches' rather than the true singular subject. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Display of riches is singular, so is affecting is the correct present tense form, fitting the context of current impact on morality. 3) Common mistake: Matching verbs to the closest noun instead of the head of the subject phrase.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Town authorities have put up a railing in front of the exit .... people .... out of the stadium and straight across the road
1) Distractor check: Options A, B, and D are common traps that mix up infinitive markers with gerunds or incorrectly conjugate verbs following the infinitive. 2) Reasoning to the answer: To prevent people rushing and dashing correctly describes the purpose of the railing, fitting the context of controlling crowd movement. 3) Common mistake: Incorrectly pairing prepositional purpose infinitives with base verb forms instead of gerunds.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: Had he known that it would rain, he .... his umbrella with him
1) Distractor check: Options B, C, and D are typical errors where students fail to apply proper conditional tense agreement for unreal past scenarios. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Had he known... he would have taken uses the third conditional for a past unreal situation, fitting the context of a missed opportunity. 3) Common mistake: Mixing conditional clauses with continuous or simple future tenses.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: After we had taken our share, we shall give to them ....
1) Distractor check: Options A, B, and D are frequently chosen due to confusion between possessive adjectives, misspelled possessives, and locational adverbs. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Theirs is the correct possessive pronoun for what belongs to them, fitting the context of giving a share without needing a following noun. 3) Common mistake: Confusing possessive pronouns like theirs with possessive determiners like their.
Select the one which most appropriately completes the sentence: The politicians are responsible for the .... events have taken place in this country
1) Distractor check: Options B, C, and D are homophones or confusable words that students mistakenly select without checking contextual meaning. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Course refers to the direction or sequence of events, fitting the context of events unfolding in the country. 3) Common mistake: Confusing homophones like course and cause in set phrases.
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined: The politician’s decision to ignore the crisis was regarded as utterly "inane"
1) Distractor check: Options A, C, and D represent antonyms or unrelated concepts that students might guess if they do not know the exact definition of the target word. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Inane means silly or foolish, so foolish is the closest in meaning, fitting the context of a poor decision. 3) Common mistake: Guessing positive traits for unfamiliar academic vocabulary words.
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