A. Circle the correct word.

1. Don’t be so optimistic / pessimistic. Everything’s going to be fine… pessimistic
2. Most newspapers are usually biased / prejudiced… biased
3. I’m slightly dubious / cynical about whether Sean’s idea… dubious
4. To suggest that it’s possible… is a little naive / sceptical… naive
5. The only ingenious / plausible explanation… plausible
6. Please don’t baffle / discriminate me with loads of… baffle
7. It’s not always easy to assume / assess someone’s suitability… assess
8. How can the government justify / speculate spending… justify
9. Looking at the damage, I would estimate / deduce… estimate

B. Complete using the correct form.

1. It took me quite a long time to grasp what the aim…
2. The jury are still deliberating, but they’re…
3. I gather from your tutor that you’re…
4. You really have to concentrate very hard…
5. I’m seriously contemplating / considering asking for a pay rise…
6. How long do you reckon it’ll take…
7. I don’t suppose I could borrow your lecture notes…
8. If you’ve ever pondered the question…
9. Let’s not even consider / contemplate the possibility…

C. Each bold word is in the wrong sentence. Write correct word.

1. I’m in a real hunch… dilemma
2. Dave said he’s got complete guesswork in US… faith
3. Sarah’s a/an intuition when it comes to astrophysics… genius
4. You often need to use a little educated notion… guesswork
5. I’ve got a/an ideology that someone in this office… hunch
6. Communism and capitalism are very different types of dilemma. ideology
7. Who gave you the faith for the main character…? inspiration
8. Detective Tacker had absolutely no evidence… but all his paradox told him… intuition
9. I’ve got a small inspiration about the exam syllabus… query
10. Paying mothers a salary to raise their children is an interesting genius. notion
11. The fact that more people would come here… is a real query. paradox

E. Match to make sentences.

1. mull this D (over for a while…)
2. piece A (together exactly what happened…)
3. take B (in the fact that…)
4. hit G (upon such a great idea…)
5. figure F (out how to get everyone…)
6. thought C (up a brilliant excuse…)
7. thought E (this through properly yet)

F. Rewrite the sentences.

1. I need to consider your offer… -> I need to think / mull over your offer…
2. Lee had the brilliant idea… -> Lee came up with the brilliant idea…
3. It’s time you realised that you’ve got responsibilities… -> It’s time you faced up to the fact…
4. I’m going to have to improve my spoken German… -> I’m going to have to brush up on my spoken German.
5. I didn’t like the idea at first but now I do. -> …I’ve come round to it now.
6. …you can’t do any revision for it. -> There’s nothing to swot up on as it’s a…
7. …so I couldn’t hear what the speaker was saying. -> I was unable to make out what the speaker…
8. We finally thought of a way… -> We finally puzzled out a way…
9. I’ve found out a lot of information… -> I’ve been reading up on the history…

G. Phrasal verbs with “out” connected to finding information:

H. Write one word in each gap (Prepositions).

• 1. under the misapprehension
• 2. cast doubt on
• 3. out of focus
• 4. Look on the bright side
• 5. in principle
• 6. associate this song with
• 7. bear in mind
• 8. belief in reincarnation
• 9. out of the question
• 10. put problems into perspective
• 11. point of view
• 12. on the basis that
• 13. On balance
• 14. taken thoughts into account
• 15. In conclusion

K. Sentence Transformation.

1. I never thought that we’d have legal problems. (crossed)
   -> It never crossed my mind that we’d have legal problems.
2. I’ve decided that teaching is not the right profession for me. (conclusion)
   -> I’ve come to / arrived at / reached the conclusion that teaching…
3. Could you tell me where you were last night? (account)
   -> Could you give an account of your whereabouts last night…
4. The journalist pretended that she was a parent… (false)
   -> The journalist gave the false impression that she was a parent…
5. You have to use logic and lateral thinking in equal measure. (strike)
   -> You have to strike a balance between logic and lateral thinking…
6. I didn’t tell Angie because I didn’t want to hurt Eddie’s feelings. (consideration)
   -> I didn’t tell Angie out of consideration for Eddie.

L. Idioms Fill.

• 1. rings a bell
• 2. splitting hairs
• 3. knows what’s what
• 4. have your wits about you
• 5. go to your head
• 6. put two and two together
• 7. round the bend
• 8. take stock of
• 9. in the dark
• 10. the wood for the trees
• 11. quicker on the uptake
• 12. haven’t got a leg to stand on

M. Complete changing the form of word in capitals.

1. There was quite a bit of confusion… (CONFUSE)
2. You’re acting completely irrationally. (RATIONAL)
3. Einstein’s brilliance went unnoticed at school. (BRILLIANT)
4. This is generally considered to be the definitive guide… (DEFINE)
5. It’s absolutely inexplicable why the council decided… (EXPLAIN)
6. I just stood there and listened in disbelief… (BELIEVE)
7. Greg’s indecisive to say the least… (DECIDE)
8. Many children create imaginary friends… (IMAGINE)
9. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity… (SANE)
10. Your argument is illogical. (LOGIC)

O. Rhetoric – Text Word Formation.

The (1) concept / conception (CONCEIVE) of ‘rhetoric’… The underlying (2) assumption (ASSUME)… There is (3) undoubtedly (DOUBT) plenty of evidence… practically (4) unthinkable (THINK)… talk complete (5) nonsense (SENSE) but what they say they say with such (6) conviction (CONVINCE)… (7) Wisdom (WISE) and knowledge are of little value… combination of clear (8) reasoning (REASON), sound (9) judgement (JUDGE)… never as (10) opinionated (OPINION) or ignorant.